Tragedy struck on Saturday when a teenager fell from a sixth-floor window and crushed two World Cup fans on the ground in Moscow, Russia. The Sun reported the man who fell died from his injuries.
The two fans, both from Argentina, were taken to the hospital as one had a serious neck injury while the other had an injured leg.
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“They were toppled like bowling pins,” a witness told the publication.
The teenager was reportedly naked and yelling at people below as he stood on the window ledge. The fans were walking below him on their way back from Spartak Stadium, where Argentina tied Iceland 1-1 in their first match of the competition.
“The moment the group of fans walked under the window, he lost his balance and fell,” a witness said.
The three were all rushed to the hospital and put in intensive care, where the teen passed away.
Despite their injuries, the two Argentinean fans told The Sun they were hopeful about being released by the time Argentina World Cup team competes in their next match. The team faces Croatia in their second match of pool play on Thursday at 2 p.m. ET in the city of Nizhny Novgorod.
The fall was unfortunately not the only accident to take place during World Cup festivities on Saturday. A taxi driver from Kyrgyzstan named Chyngyz Anarbek reportedly fell asleep at the wheel near the Red Square in Moscow and crashed into two Mexican soccer fans and six pedestrians.
“I called the ambulance right away,” Viktoria Geranovich, who filmed the accident, told the Associated Press. “I was trembling. It is not a thing you see every day, when a taxi drives right into the crowd.”
The Washington Post reported Moscow city police interrogated Anarbek, who claimed he was not intoxicated but hadn’t slept in 20 hours. He was spotted fleeing the scene, and told the cops he was afraid he’d be killed by a bystander if he remained at the scene of the accident.
His sister Almazbek Anarbek spoke the Associated Press after the incident and stated clearly that the incident was in no way linked to terrorism.
“Let people say what they want, but my brother is clean, not guilty. He was never and could never be a terrorist.”
Mark Roberts, head of the United Kingdom’s soccer policing, told the AP the same.
“At the moment, everything we are being told is that it was just a run-of-the-mill event.”
The World Cup began on Thursday and will continue through July 15 as 24 nations compete for the biggest prize in soccer.
