Baseball fan dies after falling from upper deck at Turner Field during Braves game

Man in his early 60s confirmed dead after fall during seventh inning of game between Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees

A fan has died after falling from the upper deck into the lower-level stands at Turner Field in Atlanta during a game between the Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees.

The man was in his early 60s and was pronounced dead at Grady memorial hospital following the fall in the seventh inning, said Lieut Charles Hampton of the Atlanta police department.

There was no immediate word on his identity pending notification of his next of kin. Hampton said police did not suspect foul play at this point.

The man fell close to the area where players’ wives and families sit. Stadium medical personnel treated him for about 10 minutes, applying CPR. As they worked in a circle around the man, security officers cleared the area. The fan was taken from the seating area on a backboard.

After Saturday night’s fall, some fans in the family section were escorted to a room near the Braves’ clubhouse, and many were upset. Braves outfielder Cameron Maybin’s son was crying. A woman went to the Braves dugout and told catcher AJ Pierzynski about what had occurred.

A security guard at the room where the family members went said witnesses saw the man trying to hang on to a wire that runs from the protective net behind the plate to under the media box. The man then fell the rest of the way on to the seats. Police blocked off about 10 rows of seats in section 201.

On 12 August 2013, a fan died at Turner Field after falling 26 metres (85ft) from a walkway on the fourth level of the stadium. Investigators from the Fulton county medical examiner’s office later ruled the death of Ronald Lee Homer Jr, 30, was a suicide.

Police said Homer, of Conyers, Georgia, landed in the players’ parking lot after a rain delay during a game between the Braves and Philadelphia.

Two fans died at major league games in 2011. In Texas, a man fell about six metres (20ft) to the ground beyond the outfield fence trying to catch a baseball tossed his way by Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton. Shannon Stone – a 39-year-old firefighter from Brownwood, Texas – was attending the Rangers game with his young son.

Earlier that year, a 27-year-old man died after falling about six metres (20ft) and striking his head on concrete during a Colorado Rockies home game. Witnesses told police the man was trying to slide down a staircase railing at Coors Field and lost his balance.

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