17-year-old riding go-kart at work crashes into forklift and dies, SC coroner says

UPDATE: The Greenville County coroner has determined the teen’s cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head, and his death is classified as an accident. The investigation is ongoing.

The original story is below.

A teen amusement park employee died in an accident involving a forklift and a go-kart at work, South Carolina officials said.

He’s been identified as 17-year-old Kamel Seveion Sewell of Simpsonville.

The accident happened at Frankie’s Fun Park in Greenville shortly before the park opened at noon on Friday, Dec. 27, Greenville County Coroner Parks Evans said in a news release.

Sewell was riding a go-kart when he ran into an “industrial size forklift” operated by another employee, the coroner said.

He was pronounced dead about 20 minutes after the incident, but his cause of death is still pending. An autopsy will be performed Dec. 28, Evans said.

McClatchy News reached out to Frankie’s for comment on the incident but did not immediately receive a response Dec. 27.

Greenville is about a 100-mile drive northwest from Columbia.

This story was originally published December 27, 2024 at 6:12 PM with the headline "17-year-old riding go-kart at work crashes into forklift and dies, SC coroner says."