51¹ú²úÊÓƵ

Montreal

An urban-legends website lists death by toppling vending machine among its more bizarre accidental fatalities, but the story was tragically real for one Canadian university student.

Kevin Mackle, a student at Bishop's 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ, near Montreal, died of suffocation after a 1,000-pound soft-drink machine pinned him to the ground.

The accident happened at 4am on the day the student was to catch a train back to his home-town in Ontario for the Christmas holidays.

While no university in Canada has experienced this type of accident before, soft-drink vending machines have gained notoriety from causing 37 deaths between 1978 and 1995 in the United States alone, with a further three reported in Canada.

A 20 degree tilt is enough to topple vending machines, most of which now carry a warning to customers whose frustration over losing their money often turns physical.

51¹ú²úÊÓƵ spokesman Bruce Stevenson told The THES that the university has removed 12 of its 30 vending machines, leaving only those that are secure. He said the incident was a tragic accident that was difficult to foresee.