Seven injured in Rio after overhead camera falls at Olympic Park

Multiple bystanders at Rio’s Olympic Park were injured on Monday after an overhead television camera came crashing to the ground.

The crash was captured on video. The camera’s suspension wire appears to snap, which sent the massive camera free-falling near a crowd.

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“I was looking to the camera … and suddenly I heard a big snap on the cable and the camera came down,” said visitor Chris Adams, a member of the British gymnastics delegation, who was taking pictures inside the park at the time, told Reuters. 

Two women were among those hurt in the incident. As you can see in the video below, the camera caused serious damage. One of the women — who was taken away on a stretcher — was bleeding badly from her nose, sitting in her own blood as she awaits an ambulance. (NSFW)

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Seven people were injured from the fall according to The Associated Press.

Reuters reports the camera belonged to the International Olympic Committee’s official broadcasting unit. There’s been no reason why the cord snapped in the first place, but an Olympics spokesperson told Reuters the crash is being investigated.

It’s been quite the stretch of violent events at the Rio Olympics. Swimmer Ryan Lochte was robbed at gunpoint on Sunday with three teammates. On Saturday, an athlete was robbed from the Olympic Village. Australian athletes were also robbed in late July, after a fire evacuation. Before that, a Chinese Olympian was robbed and vomited on. The Games have been somewhat unsafe for athletes and fans alike.

The IOC is lucky the camera didn’t kill anybody. Considering its weight and falling distance, it could have easily happened. This might have been an accident, but the camera cable shouldn’t have snapped to begin with. Hopefully, the right repairs are made to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

[College Spun] [Image via REUTERS/Toru Hanai]