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FORMER BURKINA FASO
FOOTBALL INTERNATIONAL DIES
AFTER SUFFERING HEART ATTACK
DURING MATCH
Football clubs have been paying tribute after ex-Burkina Faso
international Ben Idrissa Derme collapsed and died during a
French football game in September.
The 34-year-old centre-back suffered a heart attack while
playing for Corsican club AJ Biguglia in a French Cup third-
round tie.
Derme reportedly collapsed just minutes into the second-half
and medics were unable to revive him.
The former central midfielder won four caps for his country
during a career which saw him become a familiar face in the
lower leagues of French football.
Derme began his time with Etoile Filante before enjoying a
spell in Moldova with Sheriff Tiraspol.
QUAD BIKE ACCIDENT
KILLS YOUNG SPORTSMAN
AndrewGrubb (20), a promising young New Zealand sportsman
died as a result of injuries received in a quad bike accident in
September.
He was injured after falling off the quad bike in Cromwell.
Mr Grubb was a member of the Otago Country rugby
team and was also in the North Otago cricket team.
The cause of the accident was still being investigated.
FOUR PEOPLE KILLED AT
DREAMWORLD THEME PARK
Two men and two women have been killed on the Thunder
River Rapids ride at Dreamworld on the Australian Gold Coast.
The accident happened on 25 October and early investigations
suggest water pushed one raft into another and one of the
rafts tipped over, throwing the riders out. It was reported that
a 42-year-old woman, a 38-year-old man, a 35-year-old man
and a 32-year-old woman had lost their lives when the ride
sustained some sort of malfunction causing two people to be
ejected with another two people caught inside the ride.
The Thunder River Rapids has been operating since 1986 and
Dreamworld describes it as a “moderate thrill”, regarded as a
family friendly ride. Up to six people travel in circular rafts on
large rubber tyres in rapid-flowing water
Dreamworld chief executive Craig Davidson said the accident
happened at 2:20pm (AEST).
“At this stage, the park is closed and Dreamworld is working
closely with police and emergency services and authorities to
establish the facts around the incident,” he said.
Mr Davidson said the company was “deeply shocked and
saddened by this and our hearts and our thoughts go to the
families involved and to their loved ones”.
ENDURANCE ATHLETE DIES IN
ATTEMPT TO SWIM ENGLISH CHANNEL
A British athlete who was trying to run, cycle and swim from
Marble Arch in London to the Arc de Triomphe in Paris in
August died swimming across the Channel.
Nick Thomas got into difficulty in the water near Calais,
according to Enduroman – the event’s organisers. The 45-year-
old from the Shropshire town of Ellesmere, near the Welsh
border, had been swimming for 16 hours.
Enduroman, based in Dorset, says the Arch to Arc event
includes an 87-mile run from London to the south coast and
a 181-mile bicycle ride to Paris. In between, athletes must
complete the Channel swim – usually 21 miles and in water
temperatures of 16C (61F) or below.
Tweets posted by Enduroman suggested that winds and the
tides had made the going particularly tough. The Channel
Swimming Association says it can take between seven and
27 hours to complete the swim, partly because the tides
and current can move swimmers away from the nearest
point to make landfall in France. The company describes
the “extreme event” as being suitable only for “experienced
ultra-distance athletes”.