A 19-year-old baseball player in Pennsylvania died after a wooden dugout “unexpectedly collapsed” on him and two other people, officials said.
On Monday, Angel Mercado was volunteering with a youth baseball league in Harrisburg. He and others were working on a wooden dugout on a field “when the structure unexpectedly collapsed,” according to Central Penn College, where Mercado attended.
Fox 43 reported Mercado and others were taking down the dugout they had built themselves after the city said they weren’t permitted to use it. After the dugout collapsed, Mercado was not breathing but was revived when first responders performed CPR, the outlet said. Two other people suffered serious injuries, Central Penn College said.
Mercado was taken to a local hospital, where he later died. The Cumberland County Coroner’s Office confirmed to USA TODAY Sports that Mercado’s cause of death was traumatic head injuries and the death was ruled accidental.
“Our Central Penn College family is devastated by the loss of Angel. As friends who have become family, we are mourning the heart-wrenching loss of one of our own, a promising young athlete who senselessly lost his life while helping others enjoy the sport he loved so much,” Central Penn College President Linda Fedrizzi-Williams said in a statement. “No words can adequately express our anguish.”
Mercado was a freshman infielder for Central Penn College baseball team that won the Eastern States Athletic Conference this season. The school is part of the U.S. Collegiate Athletic Association Division II.
Fedrizzi-Williams said the team was able to say goodbye to Mercado.
“We as a community will come together to remember him, support each other and heal, and to live a life of purpose, because it can disappear in a second,” Fedrizzi-Williams said.
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