Evaluation of farm tractor-related fatalities.

Farm tractors are the major cause of occupational fatalities in agricultural regions. Fatalities typically result from being run over or crushed by the tractor, becoming entangled in the moving parts of the tractor, accidents on roadways, and tractor rollovers, which involve the tractor tipping sideways or backwards and crushing the operator. In this study, tractor-related fatalities in the Konya province of Turkey are retrospectively evaluated. Out of the 3940 cases on which a death examination and/or autopsy was performed between the years 2000 and 2007 at The Konya Branch of Forensic Medicine Council, 86 (2.2%) of the death cases were caused by tractor accidents and are included in this study. The ages of the victims varied between 3 and 80 years old with a mean age of 31.7 + or - 22.3. Sixty-eight (79.1%) of the cases involved males, while 18 (20.9%) of the cases involved females. In 32 (37.2%) of the cases, the deaths due to tractor accidents occurred when the tractor overturned. In 37 (43.0%) of the cases, the tractor-related fatalities involved the passengers and the drivers were involved in 34 (39.5%) of the cases. In conclusion, tractor accidents are preventable and deaths from tractor accidents can be significantly reduced if drivers are required to wear safety belts and helmets and frequent checks are implemented to enforce the ban on carrying passengers.

Accidental ligature strangulation by an ironing machine: an unusual case.

In this paper, we present a case of a 53-year-old woman who had her headscarf catch on the cylinder ironing machine in the laundry of the hospital where she worked. The hospital workers found the woman dead with her head stuck to the ironing machine. After the death scene investigation and autopsy were completed, it was determined that the death occurred as a result of accidental ligature strangulation. Accidental ligature strangulation in which an article of clothing is caught in such an electrical machine and strangles the wearer is very rare. This case highlights the fact that these kinds of machines can be hazardous to work around and that increased safety measures should be taken to insure worker safety; additionally, the people who use these machines should be educated on the potential hazards.

Homicide-suicide in Konya, Turkey between 2000 and 2007.

Homicide followed by the suicide of the murderer is a relatively rare lethal incident in which an individual kills another person and subsequently dies by suicide. Cases involving a homicide and a suicide in which death examinations and autopsies were performed at The Konya Branch of the Forensic Medicine Council between 2000 and 2007 were retrospectively investigated. During the studied time period, there were 10 homicide-suicide cases identified with 10 perpetrators killing 12 victims. Nine of the perpetrators were men and eight of the victims were women. The precipitating motive was an impending divorce in four of the cases. Two perpetrators were described as severely depressed, one had a diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, and one was a pedophile who had reactive depression. Firearms were used in eight of the homicide cases and seven of the suicides. Constricting the use of firearms may reduce/prevent future homicide-suicide cases, as it is the most commonly used method to carry out homicide-suicides.

Suicide by ligature strangulation: three case reports.

Suicide by ligature strangulation, which gives the initial impression of a homicide, is very rare. In this article, 3 suicidal death cases caused by ligature strangulation in Konya between 2001 and 2006 are presented. The first victim was a 68-year-old man who suffered from depression and lived alone in a cottage house. He terminated his life by applying a tourniquet to his neck after leaving a suicide note. The second victim was a 70-year-old woman who was found dead on the floor of the living room in her house. After she cut the vessels in her wrist, she tied pantyhose with 3 knots around her neck. It was reported that she had been intermittently receiving treatment for bronchial asthma and depression for 20 years. The third victim was a 30-year-old woman who suffered from schizophrenia for 6 years. She tied a scarf around her neck with 3 knots and died in the hospital after 1 day due to "hypoxic brain syndrome." As a result of the death scene investigations, autopsies, and judicial inquiries, it was concluded that death was by suicide in all 3 cases. Because the use of the ligature strangulation method, and particularly the tourniquet method, in suicidal cases is extremely rare in the literature, our aim is to present and discuss these cases.

Accidental decapitation: a case report.

We report a case of an accidental decapitation of an agriculture worker in a field. The scene investigation revealed that the worker had loosely tied a scarf tied over his face in an attempt to diminish his exposure to barley dust, to which he was allergic, while distributing the barley loads with a shovel upon a trailer. The trailer was simultaneously being loaded by a helix elevator machine and its rotating shaft suddenly caught the victim's scarf and pulled it down to the victim's neck. The rotating motion immediately tightened the scarf around the neck resulting in hanging/strangulation noose that, by continued tightening, caused decapitation of the victim. The victim's body was found on the ground by the trailer and the victim's head was discovered in the barley load in the trailer. Examination revealed that the neck was severed at the level of the second and third cervical vertebrae.

Unusual suicide note written on the body: two case reports.

Suicide notes are commonly written on some materials, such as notebooks, papers, and mirrors. Additionally, suicide plans have been communicated in face-to-face conversations, by speaking on the telephone, recording on CDs or video cassettes, and sending messages through text messaging. In this article, 2 suicide death cases are presented in which suicide notes were written on the bodies of the victims. The first case, a 32-year-old man, was a university graduate and had been unemployed for years; he committed suicide in his house by hanging. On the external examination, it was seen that there were some words on the body written with a pen; specifically "DONKEY" was written on the forehead; coursing up-and-down along the chest, "HODJA" was on the right, "DO NOT" was on the sternal region, and "WASH" was on the left; and undecipherable handwritings were on both zygomatic regions. The second case, a 39-year-old woman, was a housewife who was being physically abused by her husband and committed suicide by ingesting an insecticide. It was observed that on the left leg, a note was written with a pen saying that she could not stand being beaten by her husband on account of the inheritance dispute between him and her elder brother; there was purple ecchymoses in the periphery of the right eye and in the right gluteal area. Since we have not found any reports of suicide notes written on the body in the literature, we present and discuss our cases herein.

Ligature strangulation deaths in the province of Konya (Turkey).

In the present study, deaths by ligature strangulation in the province of Konya (Turkey) were evaluated from the medicolegal point of view between 2001 and 2006. In total 2850 medicolegal death cases, 161 (5.65%) were resulted from asphyxia and 20 (12.4%) of the deaths due to asphyxia were cases of ligature strangulation. Male:female ratio of the victims was 1:1 with ages ranging from 1.5 to 70 years and a mean age of 37.22+/-19.28 years. 17 cases (85%) were of homicidal and 3 cases (15%) of suicidal origin. The most widely used ligature material was clothesline in 6 cases (30%). On the examination of neck structures, thyroid cartilage fracture was present in 7 (35%) cases, fracture of the hyoid bone in 3 cases (15%), fracture both of the thyroid cartilage and hyoid bone in 1 case (5%), only ecchymosis in soft tissues in 7 cases (35%). In the paper, the findings determined in our cases are discussed in the light of the literature on the subject.

Two death cases originating from supplementary heater in the cabins of parked trucks.

A supplementary heater can be mounted in trucks or other transportation vehicles and used to heat the air in the cabin independent of the engine of the vehicle. This apparatus works with diesel fuel or gasoline. Combustion products burning in the pre-combustion chamber heat the fins of the engine. The air passing through the fins is heated and is transferred into the cabin. The malfunction of such an apparatus may be the cause of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning or fire. In this study, we report two cases in which drivers died while asleep in the cabins of parked trucks. In the first case, a 43-year-old man died because of CO poisoning originating from a broken supplementary heater. In the second case, a 48-year-old man died owing to a fire that resulted from the burning of upholstery cloths in the truck cabin, and which was caused by a supplementary heater set at very high temperatures. In both cases, it was determined by a technical expert that the CO poisoning in the first case and the fire in the second case were caused by the supplementary heater in the trucks. It is emphasized in this article that the supplementary heater in the truck might be the cause of mortal CO poisoning as well as be responsible for fires in the cabins of the trucks. It aims to highlight that a detailed investigation of supplementary heaters at the death scene is required for such death cases in the trucks.

Throat-cutting of accidental origin.

Incised wounds of the neck can be accidental, homicidal, or suicidal. In this paper, a death case has been presented where a spinning circular saw of a cutting machine in a workshop came off its place and cut the throat of a 30-year-old male who was operating the machine. There was an incision (15 cm x 5 cm) that began in the middle of the neck down the thyroid cartilage, extended horizontally to the left of the neck and ended on the outer part of the neck in the outer left side of m. trapezius. Death occurred because of exsanguination caused by the cutting of carotis artery and jugular vein. In the case we presented, although the cut in the neck initially suggested homicide, it was found to have occurred as a result of an accident after the autopsy and death scene investigation.

Sudden death due to hydatid cyst rupture located in right ventricle.

Hydatid cyst is a parasite disease, which is common in those countries where animal husbandry is extensive, but preventive medicine is lacking. Endemic regions are South Europe, South America, Africa, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, and India. In the study, a sudden death case due to cardiac hydatid cyst rupture located in right ventricle has been presented with a review of the literature. The victim was a 10-year-old girl of a family who raised sheep. External examination of the body showed congestion in both the head and face but neither trauma nor evidence of violence or eruptions on the skin were found. At autopsy, through a vertical incision on the frontal surface of truncus pulmonalis, a total of 8 daughter cysts were obtained. A 6 x 5 cm cyst was observed in the right ventricular apex. In those countries where hydatid cyst is endemic, and when sudden unexpected death occurs in individuals involved in animal husbandry, cardiac hydatid cyst must be kept in mind as a cause.

Deaths caused by mole guns: three case reports.

Possession of firearms is limited because of the technological requirements in production and strict laws. However, anyone can manufacture a handmade firearm by following simple instructions and has no legal liability. A mole gun is an unusual weapon used to kill moles in agricultural areas. It propels pellets in a similar way as a shotgun. This study presents three cases of death caused by mole guns. Two of the cases were accidental, and the other case was suicidal. The first case involved a 51-year-old man who was checking the mole gun when it fired, injuring his left eye and the left region of his face. He died in the hospital after 3 days of medical treatment. The second case was a 78-year-old man, who had been intermittently treated for depression over the last 15 years. He died instantly after placing the mole gun vertically against his head and firing it. The third case was a 43-year-old man who had been trying to set up a mole gun device in his potato field when the weapon accidentally discharged. The victim was injured seriously and died in the hospital a short time later. In conclusion, because the mole gun may cause lethal wounds in humans when fired from a short distance, the researchers believe that its production and use should be in accordance with firearms laws.