Spanish mountain biker seriously injured after being accidentally shot by hunters

A mountain biker was seriously injured in Catalonia over the weekend after a hunter accidentally shot him with a rifle.

The 35-year-old cyclist was riding through a forested area near the town of Cabrils, about 30 kilometres north-east of Barcelona. Local police confirmed that an authorised hunt was taking place in the area at the time of the incident on Saturday.

 

 

 

 

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According to officials, the cyclist was “gravely injured” and airlifted to Vall d'Hebron hospital near Barcelona.

A police investigation into the incident has been opened. No further details are available at this time.

> Cyclist shot by hunter who says he mistook him for a rabbit

While rare, we have reported on several cases over the years in which bike riders have been shot by hunters.

In November 2021 a cyclist in Spain, this time in the province of Alicante, had to be treated in hospital to have shotgun pellets removed after being shot by a hunter who had mistaken him for a rabbit.

In 2018 a British mountain biker living in the French Alps was unfortunately killed by a 22-year-old taking part in a shoot organised by a local hunting club.

Former Austrian national time trial champion Christiane Koschier was shot in 2014 while preparing for a time trial near Vicenza, Italy.

> Cyclist shot while warming up for time trial - hunter said he was aiming at a hare

Koschier, who spent the night in hospital but luckily suffered no long-term effects from the incident, joked afterwards that her rivals “can only stop me by shooting me.”

Main image licensed under CC BY SA 2.0 by Paul Wordingham on Flickr