This is a list of graffiti and street art injuries and deaths.
Descriptions of graffiti and street art injuries and deaths
There were six people who died creating graffiti on train carriages in New South Wales by 1988.[1]Nine people were seriously injured or died creating graffiti on railway property in New South Wales in the 18 months prior to December 2001.[1]
In July 1988 in the London Underground there were people who had received "... electric shocks and burns crossing the 600-volt rails to tag a wall."[2] In June 2008 in Los Angeles there had been "...taggers getting injured once every couple of months from falls or being 'clipped by a car'.".[3]
When people have taken photos of newly created graffiti there have been accidents where deaths have occurred.[4][5] In the United States in 1993 a 23-year-old person was on train tracks with a group of people and it is thought that they had spray painted graffiti on the side of a freight carriage. The 23 year-old was taking photos of the graffiti when the sound of an approaching train was heard. The 23 year-old began to move across the train tracks and a collision occurred with the train and they died.[4]
In Russia in 2020 a 22-year-old had created graffiti at a train station and they climbed up onto a train carriage to take a photo of the graffiti they had completed and they received an electric shock and died.[5][6]
Graffiti and street art injuries and deaths
| Date | Country | Type | Died or injured | Ages | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 September 1983 | United States | Choked or strangled | Died | 25 | Michael Stewart was arrested in New York City for tagging and was beaten badly while in police custody. He was pronounced dead 13 days later as a result of police brutality.[7] |
| December 1986 | Australia | Collision with signal box | Died | 14 | A 14-year-old was leaning out of a moving train while attempting to spray paint graffiti on the side of the train, when his head collided with a signal box. He later died from his injuries.[8][9] |
| 9 November 1987 | United Kingdom | Dragged by train | Died | 11 | An 11-year-old died when he was at an underground station next to the tracks trying to graffiti trains and a train dragged him 50 yards (45 m) into a tunnel. It is speculated that he had been opposite the platform hiding in a gap in a wall so that he could lean out to graffiti trains, and his clothing may have been caught on a train, which resulted in him being dragged into a tunnel.[10][2] |
| 1988 | Australia | ? | Died | ? | It was reported that a person died when they were "... trying to paint the outside of a moving train"[9] |
| 11 August 1989 | Australia | Collision with signal box | Died | 16 | A 16-year-old died when he was leaning from a train carriage door and his head collided with a signal box. A marker pen was found on the railway tracks nearby, there was fresh graffiti on the train, and the person had previously graffitied the inside of the train carriage.[11][9] |
| 29 November 1989 | United States | Collision with train | Died | 17, 19 | Two people died when they had been spray painting graffiti on the walls of a subway train tunnel and a train collided with them.[12][13][14] |
| 16 December 1989 | Australia | Collision with train | Injured | 15 | A person was leaning out the side of a moving train and they were attempting to create graffiti on the side of the train using a felt pen when they fell underneath the wheels of the train about 400 metres (1,300 ft) from a train station. Their left leg was amputated and they received microsurgery on their right leg and it was uncertain as to whether the person would need to have their right leg amputated.[15] |
| 20 February 1992 | Switzerland | Collision with train | Died | 15, 16 | Two teenagers died when they were attempting to spray graffiti on a railway electricity shed and were hit by a train.[16][17] |
| 8 November 1992 | Germany | Collision with train | Died | Both 17 | Two people died after they were on a railway line and a train collided with them. It is speculated that they had been on the railway line in relation to the creation of graffiti.[18] |
| 25 May 1993 | Australia | ? | Died | 21 | A person died when they were hanging out of a moving train while attempting to create graffiti and were crushed to death.[19] |
| 25 June 1993 | United States | Amtrak train | Died | Skate or SK8 of CBS crew was struck by an Amtrak train while painting a freight in Los Angeles.[20] | |
| 26 April 1995 | Australia | Collision with bridge | Died | 14 | A person died when they were leaning out the door of a moving train and they were spraying graffiti on the side of the train and they collided with a road bridge.[21] |
| 7 May 1995 | United States | Electric shock | Died | 16 | A teenager died when they were attempting to spray paint a wall and they touched an electrical transformer behind them receiving an electric shock. They were standing on a platform two to three stories above the ground and the amount of space between the edge of the platform and the three electrical transformers behind them was estimated at one foot.[22][23] |
| 6 May 1996 | Germany | Collision with train | Died | 14 | Two 14 year-olds were on railway lines and one of the 14 year-olds wanted to spray their tag on a noise barrier that was along the sides of a railway line. An InterRegio train then collided with both 14 year-olds and one of the 14 year-olds died in the collision.[24][18] |
| 2 October 1996 | Australia | Collision with bridge | Died | 15 | A person died when they climbed up onto the roof of a moving train and whilst on the roof of the train they attempted to create graffiti and as the train was approaching a station they hit the overhead wires. They were taken to hospital and died the following day.[25][26] |
| 18 December 1996 | Germany | Collision with train | Died | 19,17 | Two people died when they were on railway lines while graffiti tagging, and a train collided with them.[18] |
| 1997 | United States | Collision with train | Injured | ? | A person's foot was severed while they were painting the side of a train.[27] |
| 11 June 1997 | United States | Fall | Injured | 19 | Daniel Supple, or Ozie, was injured in Los Angeles when they fell 100 feet (30 m) from the top of a concrete overpass support pylon above a freeway. They had been on the top of the pylon spraying graffiti on the side of the overpass, when they fell onto an embankment along the freeway. They received injuries including spinal fractures, two broken ankles and a broken left arm.[28][29][30][3] |
| 18 March 1998 | United States | Gunshot | Died | 18 | Tie One, "his legal name was Jonathan See Lim. He was 18. He was shot and killed while climbing on a fire escape outside a" San Francisco apartment. His back pack was filled with spray paint.[31][32] |
| January 1999 | France | Electric shock | Died | 19 | A person climbed onto the roof of a train carriage that they were looking to tag, and they received an electric shock from the overhead power lines and died.[33] |
| August 1999 | United States | Unconfirmed | Died | ? | A person died when they fell from a railroad trestle bridge and it was speculated that a collision may have occurred with a train that was travelling past and they fell 40 feet (12 m) from the bridge. It was also speculated that they jumped from the bridge to avoid a train. The person had been painting graffiti at the bridge.[34] |
| 28 December 1999 | Germany | Collision with train | Died | 21 | A person was inside a railway tunnel and they had spray painted tags on the walls of the tunnel. It is thought that the person saw a train coming and moved away from the railway track. A second train was coming down a second railway track and the person then collided with the front carriage of this second train. The accident occurred at 5:25am and the person was taken to hospital where they died at 8pm.[24] |
| April 2001 | United Kingdom | Collision with train | Died | 18 | A person died when they were spray painting graffiti beside a railway line and a train collided with them.[35] |
| 3 August 2001 | Germany | Collision with train | Died | 19, 20 | Two people died when they had sprayed graffiti on the pillar of a bridge beside railway lines and a train travelling at 100 km/h (62 mph) collided with them several meters away from where the graffiti was on the pillar.[36][37][38] |
| 19 March 2002 | Australia | Collision with train | Died | 19 | A person died when a train collided with them on railway lines and it is speculated the person had been attempting to create graffiti. They found spray paint cans and other graffiti related objects near where the person was found lying dead on the railway track.[39][40] |
| 9 May 2003 | Australia | Collision with train | Died | 16 | A person died when they had been spraying graffiti on the side of a railway line and then a train collided with them and the collision with the train occurred the width of two train tracks away from where they had been creating graffiti.[41] |
| 2003 | Portugal | Electric shock | Died | 21 | A person died when they were walking alongside train lines in an underground train tunnel, and fell onto a live third rail and received an electric shock. They were found lying on the track with a can of paint next to them.[42][43] |
| 17 September 2003 | United States | Collision with train | Died | 24 | A person died when they were underneath a bridge and a passing train collided with them. Fresh graffiti was found underneath the bridge, and a backpack with spray paint cans was close to the persons body.[44][45][46] |
| 1 February 2005 | Canada | Collision with train | Died | 18 | A person died when a passing train collided with them and prior to the collision they had been spray painting a tag on the outside of a stationary freight carriage.[47][48][49] |
| 21 June 2005 | France | Electric shock | Died | 20 | A person began spray painting a wagon in the Paris Métro and had been able to walk on the live third rail without receiving an electric shock. Railway workers maintaining the track nearby had turned off the electric current and then reconnected it once they had finished work. He then began to leave the railway tracks and dropped an object that he then went to pick up, and while doing so lost his balance, fell on the third rail, and received an electric shock and was killed.[50] |
| 21 December 2005 | United Kingdom | Collision with train | Died | 17 | A person died when they had been on railway lines and an express train passing through collided with them. It is speculated that they had been on the track in relation to writing graffiti on trains.[51] |
| 5 January 2007 | United States | Collision with train | Died | 13 | A teenager was writing tags on signal boxes close to railway tracks when they began to leave the area they were tagging. They were going across a row of multiple railway tracks when they collided with a train going at 45 miles per hour (72 km/h) and they died. It is speculated that a second train that had been travelling down the tracks had obstructed their view of the train that they collided with.[52][53] |
| 16 May 2007 | United States | Electric shock | Died | 18 | A person was sitting on top of an electrical transformer inside an electricity substation spraying graffiti when an electric arc struck them. They received burns injuries to most of their body and they died in hospital two days later.[54] |
| 2008 | United States | Collision with car | Died | ? | A person died when they were attempting to spray paint a median area and a car collided with them.[3] |
| 20 January 2008 | Australia | Drowning | Died | 21, 25 | Two people were inside a stormwater drain spraying graffiti on the side of it when it began raining heavily. A sudden increase in water in the drain swept them a kilometre (about half a mile) down the drain and both people drowned.[55][56][57][58] |
| 13 April 2008 | Australia | Fall | Injured | 14 | A 14-year-old had been spraying graffiti on the side of a building and they were walking over a fibreglass roof when it collapsed and they fell 6 metres (20 ft) to the ground and they received severe facial injuries, broken teeth, a broken jaw, fractures to their legs and a fractured wrist.[59][60] |
| May 2008 | United Kingdom | Fall | Injured | 24 | While graffiti tagging, a person fell from a multi-story building and received head and internal injuries and a broken back.[3] |
| 21 June 2008 | United States | Fall | Injured | ? | It was speculated that a person was spraying graffiti on an overpass when they fell onto a freeway. They were clutching a can of spray paint as they lay on the freeway. It is thought that they may have broken their back in the fall and they were taken to hospital for treatment.[3] |
| 10 October 2008 | Germany | Collision with train | Died | 31 | A person died and it was speculated that they were spraying graffiti on a bridge and a collision with a train occurred.[61] |
| 20 January 2009 | Netherlands | Collision with train | Died, Injured | 17, 18 | A 17-year-old and an 18-year-old collided with a train; it is speculated that the two were painting a wall with graffiti, as spray paint cans were found lying next to the railway line. The 17 year-old was killed when the train collided with him, and the 18 year-old received serious injuries.[62][63][64][65][66] |
| 20 February 2009 | United States | Fall / Collision with car | Died | 28 | It was speculated that a person was on the catwalk of a roadway sign when they fell 24 feet (7.3 m) to the expressway below. Later, a car travelling down the expressway reached the location where they were lying on the road and a collision occurred. There was silver graffiti that had been newly painted on the roadway sign above the person on the freeway, and they had a can of silver spray paint with them.[67][27] |
| 16 December 2009 | Denmark | Electric shock | Died | 17 | A person died when they were standing on the roof of a train and received an electric shock, and fell off the train to the ground. It is thought they had been graffiti tagging trains.[68][69][70] |
| 19 March 2010 | Germany | Collision with train | Died | 19 | A person died when they were on railway lines looking to spray graffiti on a train that was stationary on the train tracks, and a collision occurred when a train travelled past them.[71][72] |
| 4 July 2010 | United Kingdom | Fall | Died | 22 | A person was walking across a warehouse roof to gain access to a railway line where they were intending to create graffiti, when they fell through a skylight on the roof. They received head injuries, and later died in hospital.[73][74] |
| 9 July 2010 | Germany | Collision with train | Died | Both 15 | Two 15 year-olds were spray painting graffiti on the side of a freight train carriage. Another set of train tracks were next to them and an ICE train traveled past them on these tracks at an estimated 120 km/h (75 mph). It was reported that, "According to the first statements by the ICE train driver, the 15-year-olds still tried to get off the tracks. "We assume that you (they) saw the train,"...The train driver had tried with an emergency signal and braking to prevent the accident... "If they had lay down flat, it might have turned out lightly..."[75] One 15 year-old died immediately from the injuries he received, and the second died from his injuries the following day.[76][77][78] |
| 23 October 2010 | Poland | Collision with train | Died | 19 | A person died when they had finished spray painting the wall of a viaduct; it is thought that they went to paint a freight train that was slowly travelling past. A second train traveled past them on the track, and a rush of air pulled them underneath the wheels of the train.[79][80][81] |
| 31 October 2010 | Canada | Collision with train | Died | 17 (all three) | Three 17 year-olds died when they were intending to spray paint graffiti under a road bridge and a passing train collided with them. It is thought that the train was quiet as it travelled down the tracks and they did not hear it coming.[82][83][84][85] |
| 26 May 2011 | United States | Collision with train | Died | 20 | A person died when they were walking on train tracks and a train collided with them. Cans of spray paint were found close to their body.[86][87] |
| 29 August 2011 | Australia | Fall | Died | 17 | A person died after they fell 15 metres (50 ft) from a road bridge. It is speculated they had been spraying graffiti on the side of the bridge, as a backpack was found with the body that had spray cans inside.[88][89] |
| 11 January 2012 | Australia | Collision with train | Died | 18 | An 18-year-old died when they were walking through a train underpass that went underneath a road bridge and a train collided with them. They were walking through the underpass as they were looking to graffiti a wall. One other person, who was there at the time with the person on the train tracks, described the approach of the train as "something that they had been unable to hear until they saw it".[90][91][92] |
| March 2013 | United States | Fall | Died | 22 | A person was spray painting graffiti on a bridge overpass and they fell from the bridge. Their body was later found nearby. There was recently applied red graffiti on the bridge near where their body was, as well as similar paint on their hands.[93][94][95] |
| 1 April 2013 | United States | Undetermined | Died | 30 | A person was killed from what was thought to be asphyxiation after the rope that they were using to move down the outside of a high rise building wound tightly around their chest and suffocated them. Their knees were up around their chest inside of the rope in a technique called a "body belay". Their body was found still on the rope at the 17th floor of the office building. They were not wearing any climbing equipment. Spray paint cans and etching tools were found on the roof of the building.[95][96][94] |
| 7 July 2013 | United Kingdom | Fall | Died | 16 | A teenager died when they fell from a three-storey building that they had been spray painting.[97][98] |
| 27 October 2013 | Germany | Collision with train | Unconfirmed | 25 | A person was on a bridge next to railway lines writing graffiti on a wall and a passing train collided with them. The collision with the train occurred at about 7:10am. Just after 8am the train driver of another train that was passing by saw the person lying unconscious on the side of the railway line. The injuries they received included severe head injuries and they were placed in an induced coma, and a day after the accident had occurred it was uncertain as to whether they would survive.[99][100][101][102][103] |
| 31 October 2013 | Germany | Electric shock from arc | Injured | 21 | A person was spraying graffiti on freight carriages when they climbed on top of a carriage intending to tag a bridge. They were holding a spray can in their right hand, and an electric arc jumped over to the spray can and went through their hand, arm, and chest, then exited out of their right foot. They lost consciousness and were then lifted up and carried to a street by the people with them. They were in a coma in hospital for 36 hours, and then later put into a medically induced coma for a week. They received burns to over 90% of their body. Half of their burns injuries healed by themself and half were repaired using 10 skin graft operations that occurred over a period of 3 to 4 months.[104] |
| 26 December 2013 | Germany | Electric shock | Died | 15 | A teenager died when they were in a freight train yard looking for a location to create graffiti when they climbed a ladder attached to the side of a freight train carriage, and received an electric shock from overhead power lines.[105] |
| 17 March 2014 | France | Collision with tunnel | Died | 20 | A person died when they leaned out of a train window to spray graffiti on the outside of a train and collided with the entrance to a tunnel.[106] |
| 25 May 2014 | Greece | Electric shock | Died | 17 | A person died when they were at a train station intending to graffiti trains and they were going across train tracks when they slipped and fell onto a live third rail and were electrocuted.[107][108] |
| 25 September 2014 | Germany | Collision with train | Died | 64 | Walter Josef Fischer was on train tracks when he was hit by a passing S-Bahn train. The cover of a power cable had newly sprayed graffiti on it, and a spray can was located close to him.[109][110][111] |
| 25 September 2014 | Australia | Fall from moving train | Died | 34 | A person was killed after they had been riding on the outside of a moving train and attempting to spray graffiti on it when they fell from the train and was killed.[112][113][114] |
| 1 November 2014 | Australia | Electric shock | Died | 26 | A person died when they were spraying graffiti on train carriages at a train depot and they climbed onto one of the carriages, raised their hand and was electrocuted by overhead power lines.[115][116][114] |
| 7 December 2015 | Portugal | Collision with train | Died | 18, 20, ? | Three people died when they were attempting to graffiti a train and a passing train travelling at 120 km/h (75 mph) collided with them.[117][118][119] |
| April 2016 | Italy | Collision with train | Injured | 21 | A person received a fractured tibia and fibula in their right leg when they collided with a train. They were spraying graffiti on a wall beside railway tracks. They said that "A train has passed. We have seen it. ...we just had to cross two tracks. We haven't heard the other coming. It was behind us. It was raining".[120] |
| 20 May 2016 | Germany | Collision with train | Died | 29 | A person was spraying graffiti on technical equipment near train tracks when a freight train passed them, and the force from the suction of the freight train threw them against the side of the train, killing them instantly.[121][122][123][124] |
| 3 October 2016 | Germany | Collision with train | Died | 18,19 | Two people were hit by a train and killed; a bag with spray utensils and spray paint cans were found nearby.[123][125][126] |
| 29 May 2017 | Australia | Collision with train | Died | 25 | It was speculated that a person was spraying graffiti on a stationary train when they then ran across the tracks and was hit by a train. Spray paint cans were found close to their body.[127][128] |
| 30 August 2017 | Greece | Electric shock | Died | 19 | A person was at a train station where they wrote their tag on a train carriage, and whilst talking on the phone, they tripped over onto a live third rail that electrocuted them. Paramedics took them to hospital where they were pronounced dead.[129][130][131][132] |
| 17 November 2017 | Germany | Electric shock | Injured | 26 | A person was injured in a train marshalling yard; it was speculated that they were in the yard in relation to graffiti. They climbed on top of a stationary train carriage and received an electric shock, and were taken to hospital in a critical but stable condition.[133][134] |
| 2 January 2018 | France | Electric shock | Injured | 21 | A person went into a train marshalling yard and it is speculated that they went there to create graffiti on a freight carriage. They climbed onto a carriage and received an electric shock from the overhead power lines. A person who was with him contacted emergency services, and he was transported to a hospital that specializes in treating burn patients, where he remained in critical condition.[135] |
| January 2018 | Portugal | Fall | Died | 21 | A person died when they were on the roof of a building intending to paint graffiti, and a skylight gave way under their weight and they fell seven metres (23 ft).[43] |
| 18 June 2018 | United Kingdom | Collision with train | Died | 19, 23, 23 | Three people were killed when it is thought they saw an oncoming train and then hid behind a wall so that they would be hidden from sight. In doing this, they put themselves in the path of a train and were struck by one. Spray paint cans were in close proximity to where their bodies were found.[136][137] |
| 5 September 2018 | Australia | Collision with train | Died | ? | A person died when it is speculated that they were spraying a train with graffiti and they then moved backwards into the path of an oncoming train, and a collision occurred.[138][139] |
| 4 December 2018 | United Kingdom | Electric shock | Died | 29 | A person was on railway lines and it is speculated that they were creating graffiti, and they were killed after receiving an electric shock from overhead power lines.[140] |
| 11 May 2019 | Spain | Collision with car | Died | 14 | A teenager died after having painted graffiti next to a highway; they then travelled across two lanes of the highway and collided with a car.[141][142][143] |
| 15 November 2019 | United States | Fall | Died | 28 | A 28-year-old had been attempting to spray paint graffiti on a building when they fell through a metal awning and was killed.[144][145] |
| December 2019 | Germany | Collision with train | Died | 23 | A person died after a passing train collided with them. It is speculated that they may not have heard the approaching train while spraying graffiti on a junction box.[146] |
| 18 July 2020 | Greece | Electric shock | Died | 20 | A person died when they were going across train lines and they were electrocuted. It is speculated that they were crossing lines while looking to create graffiti.[147][148] |
| 20 April 2022 | United States | Collision with train | Died | 28, 34 | The bodies of two French graffiti artists were found on New York City Subway tracks after they were hit by a train.[149] |
| 30 July 2023 | United States | Collision with Monorail | Died | 14 | A 14-year-old boy who was spray-painting a building was hit and killed by the Seattle Center Monorail Sunday night, July 30th.[150] |
See also
References
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