An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, flying in the sky dropped down on a woman, leaving her unconscious. The incident occurred during the Seattle Pride Parade.
The parade is a series of events held annually in late June for celebrating LGBT Pride in Seattle. On Sunday, many people participated in the parade and many others just went to see the event.
The celebration, however, turned horrific for a 25-year-old woman who was knocked down by a drone. The victim was standing on the parade route near 4th Avenue and Madison when the incident occurred. An 18 x 18-inch drone weighing about two pounds is believed to have crashed into a building, tumbling down then striking the woman's head.
The victim was caught by her boyfriend as she was falling down unconscious. An off-duty firefighter helped in treating the woman before police arrived. The woman was then taken to the Virginia Mason Hospital for further treatment.
The Seattle Police Department (SPD) revealed that one of the woman's friends, who was also at the spot, handed over the drone to the police. Drones are easily available for about $1,200 on the market.
Witnesses said the pilot of the drone was a white man probably in his 20s. The suspect is also believed to have a prominent tattoo of a woman on his body. He was wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, and cut-off shorts. Police are contacting other witnesses to catch the drone pilot.
This is not the first incident that flying drones have caused harm in public. Singer Enrique Iglesias was seriously hurt when he tried to reach out his hand to grab a flying drone during a recent concert in Tijuana, Mexico.
In April 2014, a flying drone fell down during a triathlon in western Australia, injuring a runner.
In June of the same year, a Seattle woman raised an alarm when she found a "peeping" drone outside the window of her 26th floor apartment. It was later found that the drone was not actually peeping but was taking aerial pictures of a site where a developer was planning an office building.
Governments have been urged to impose laws on UAVs to protect the privacy of people and avoid accidents.
Photo: Don McCullough | Flickr
