Man chokes to death during hot dog eating contest
An eating contest last Thursday to mark the start of the Fourth of July weekend ended tragically in South Dakota.
Mr Walter Eagle Tail, 47, who was competing against five others, choked to death while scarfing down hot dogs.
Rapid City Journal reported Custer County Sheriff Rick Wheeler as saying: "There was someone doing CPR when we arrived. Basically, he probably just suffocated. It got lodged in his throat and they couldn't get it out."
"It all happened within minutes," he added. "I think everybody was pretty well shocked about it."
He was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A pie-eating contest scheduled for the next day was cancelled.
Speed-eating competitions are common in the US, especially over the Independence Day (July 4) weekend.
Sources: Rapid City Journal, Inquirer.net, The Guardian
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