A 40-year-old man was found dead inside the leg of a decorative papier-mâché dinosaur statue in Spain after being reported missing by his family just a few hours earlier.
The man, who has not yet been named, was found dead by a father and son in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, a Barcelona suburb, at around 12:00 p.m. local time on Saturday, according to local news site El Mirall.
After being informed by the father that a man appeared to be dead inside the dinosaur statue, three units of the Generalitat Fire Brigade arrived at the scene.
Several members of the firefighters' special rescue team were also deployed, as they had to saw off multiple parts of the dinosaur in order to extract the body from the decorative statue.
Footage posted to Twitter by El Mirall showed the extent of the extraction process, as the sound of a saw can be heard while firefighters and an ambulance are present at the scene.
🔴 Troben el cos sense vida d'un home dins d'un dinosaure decoratiu dels antics cinemes del Cubics de #SantaColoma de #Gramenet. Un nen i el seu pare, que juguen sovint a la zona, han trobat el cadàver. El pare ha avisat immediatament la policia, que investiga la causa de la mort pic.twitter.com/EIAc3P4Lr1
— El Mirall.net (@elmirallnet) May 22, 2021
The police have ruled out the possibility of the deceased man being homeless, as he was reported missing by his family just a few hours before his body was discovered after he had been away from them for two days, according to El Periódico.
The Mossos d'Esquadra, the local police department, are currently investigating the incident, but told La Vanguardia that there were no "indications of criminality" in relation to his death.
The department told ARA that it was believed the man crawled inside the dinosaur statue after he dropped his phone into it, before getting stuck when he fell upside down.
Police are awaiting the results of the autopsy to determine the cause of death and to work out how he was able to enter the decorative statue.
The dinosaur was the last remaining advertising figure in the area, which was created alongside several other decorative figures to promote a now closed movie theater.
Newsweek has contacted the Mossos d'Esquadra for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
