By Jessie Forand
NOVI, Mich. — Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks died last weekend after a fireworks accident.
The 24-year-old NHL player from Lativa was at a party when a fireworks display tipped over, sending an explosive toward people watching from a nearby hot tub, Slate reported Tuesday.
Kivlenieks was believed to be hit in the chest by the fireworks mortar and local police called it a tragic accident. He was unresponsive when emergency responders arrived at the scene and was declared dead from chest trauma at a nearby hospital.
No one else was injured.
The Latvian Hockey Federation called Kivlenieks’ death “a great loss not only for Latvian hockey but for the entire Latvian nation,” Slate reported.