BBQ MAN IS KILLED BY BOULE
Blast shrapnel hits victim
A MAN has become the first person ever to be killed by an exploding pétanque boule.
The victim, 31, died when the metal ball blew up after it was heated on the grill of a family’s barbecue.
It is not known whether the boule was placed on the barbecue on purpose or had been left there by accident.
The freak incident happened during a heatwave in the French town of Boulou, close to the border with Spain. A source ® said: “Medics were called, and a doctor arrived by air ambulance to organise an evacuation by helicopter.
“Sadly the victim died from very serious shrapnel injuries to his head.”
At least five other people were in the garden at the time of the accident, including three children aged between eight and 10.
All suffered “psychological trauma” but were physically unhurt, according to the source.
Pétanque, one of the most popular games in France, is a form of boules that involves tossing metal balls as close to a small wooden ball as possible.
The main balls are usually made by welding two steel half-spheres together before they are heated to around 900F.
Investigators are now said to be considering whether a manufacturing defect or a chemical reaction may have caused the ball to explode with such horrific consequenes.
Last July, a pétanque boule exploded after it was left in a fire pit on a beach.
Metal shards hit a teenager in the chest, seriously injuring the victim.
There are said to be no previous known examples of anyone being killed by an exploding pétanque boule.