Fan dies after fall from upper level of Ga. Dome

[September 01, 2012]  ATLANTA, Ga. (AP) -- A 20-year-old man from Tennessee who plunged about 35 feet from the upper level of the Georgia Dome and struck another fan during the Tennessee-North Carolina State game has died, authorities said Saturday.

The man fell on another fan seated in the mezzanine area during the game Friday evening, The Georgia World Congress Center Authority, which operates the downtown football stadium, said in a statement.

Investigator Leon Harrison at the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office told The Associated Press early Saturday that Isaac Grubb of Lenoir City, Tenn., was pronounced dead Friday night, minutes before midnight, at an Atlanta hospital.

He said the man had fallen about 35 feet and appeared to have suffered injuries from blunt force trauma.

"He passed away at the hospital," Harrison told AP by telephone, adding an autopsy was planned Saturday morning.

Harrison said the other fan was a man who was subsequently treated at another Atlanta hospital and released. He had no further details on the man's identity or his condition.

Jennifer LeMaster, a spokeswoman for the Georgia World Congress Center Authority, told AP before the death was confirmed by Harrison that she had no information beyond the authority's initial statement. She said, however, the authority was expected to release more information Saturday afternoon.

The authority had said the fall occurred about 8:30 p.m. Friday night during the game in which Tennessee beat North Carolina 35-21in the season opener for both teams.

The fall occurred a day after a 25-year-old fan tumbled about 60 feet from a fifth-floor escalator at Reliant Stadium in Houston during a preseason Houston Texans game. Jonathon Kelly died from the fall during the Thursday night game against the Minnesota Vikings, and frantic witnesses called police to report where his body had landed, police spokesman John Cannon said. Police said the fall appeared to be an accident.

Last year, a firefighter attending a Texas Rangers game in Arlington died when he fell from the left field stands while reaching for a baseball tossed his way by All-Star outfielder Josh Hamilton. The man's 9-year-old son witnessed the fall. A statue was later dedicated at Rangers Ballpark to the man and his son, and railings were raised throughout the park before this season.

[Associated Press; By CHARLES ODUM]

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