Lethal trajectory: a case of fatal injury from an accidentally projected metal fragment

Mechanical energy trauma is a major cause of death, especially in high-risk occupational settings such as agriculture and industry. These injuries result from the sudden transfer of mechanical energy to the body via impacts, compressions, or projected objects. This report presents an accidental fatality in a rural area involving an excavator with a brush-cutting attachment.

A male was found supine along a country road near an agricultural field. Inside the field stood an excavator with its boom extended toward a hedge, equipped with a brush cutter. The windshield was shattered, with glass fragments inside the cab and around the vehicle. A cylindrical metal fragment (15 cm long, 0,5 cm diameter) was found on the driver's seat.

External examination showed an inwardly beveled wound on the right hemithorax and another in the lumbar area. Autopsy revealed a wound path from the chest injury, directed downward, left to right, and front to back, with soft tissue lacerations, rib fractures, pleural penetration, diaphragmatic and right liver lobe injury, and an outwardly beveled wound in the lumbar region. Death occurred from massive hemorrhage and respiratory failure as the victim reached the roadside. The projectile was a piece of metal mesh forcefully ejected by the brush cutter after impact with a wire fence. The injury pattern was consistent with high-energy trauma.

This case highlights the importance of thorough scene investigation in violent deaths, as autopsy alone would not have revealed the projectile origin or the event dynamics.