19 September 2023 , 18:33
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A weightlifter was killed when the metal bar he was lifting fell on his neck and suffocated him, an inquest heard.
Veteran lifter Carl Hughes, 61, was found trapped under the 60kg bar after working out in his bedroom in Wales. He was training alone with the bar with the 9st 6lb weight when he was trapped in the freak slip.
He was found by neighbour Gill Embleton after she went to check on him in the seaside town of Rhos-on-Sea. She became alarmed when he did not collect his morning paper from the apartment complex - and she discovered him dead under the weight on his bench.
An inquest opening heard Carl was lying on the weights bench in his bedroom with the barbell on his neck when he was found on September 9. Pathologist Dr Zain Mehdi gave a provisional cause of death as asphyxia secondary to compression of the neck by a bar.
Samples have been sent for toxicology tests to check on any substances in his body. John Gittins, senior coroner for North Wales East and Central, adjourned the hearing in Ruthin, to a date to be fixed.
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Neighbours at Carl's block of flats were shocked at hearing about his death. Albert Kirk said: "I had been away on holiday when it happened. I heard he was found at home.
"I only knew him to say hello to when I would see him going out of his flat or coming back in. He kept himself to himself." While a female neighbour added: "It's awful to hear. I didn't know him but it is a terrible way to go."