Freak Beer Keg Explosion Kills Cancer Survivor On His 43rd Birthday Party

A Brazilian cancer survivor died in a tragic freak accident on Friday, Sept. 17, after a beer keg exploded at his 43rd birthday party while he was trying to fix it.

Gilson do Nascimento, 43, a locksmith shop owner, was reportedly pronounced dead after suffering the entire impact of a beer keg explosion as he was trying to fix the rented equipment during his birthday bash in Campo Bom in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The accident occurred while Nascimento was trying to repair the beer keg himself as beer wasn't coming out of the machine's tap properly, New York Post reported.

Nascimento’s niece, who opted to remain anonymous, said that her uncle tried to fix the machine as "only foam" was coming out of it.

“My uncle called them [the rental company] and they gave him instructions on how to start fixing it until they arrived,” she added.

However, the beer dispensing machine shortly suddenly blew up, causing metal shards to hit Nascimento in the head and kill him immediately.

Nascimento's family has been left “very shaken” by the freak accident, the niece said.

Nascimento had battled and survived cancer six years before the incident and reportedly spent almost two months in an ICU during the ordeal, FOX 5 New York reported.

Spokesperson Clovis Nei da Silva said that police officers are interviewing witnesses who were at the scene at the time of the incident. Silva added that the investigators are treating Nascimento's death as accidental.

Meanwhile, the officers are also investigating the brewery and delivery company to find out if there was a malfunction in the barrel they supplied.

However, the lawyer for Chopp Express, which supplied the keg, said that Nascimento was warned not to touch the equipment until their technician reached their address. He added that when their technician arrived, the beer dispenser had already exploded and Nascimento was dead at the scene.

An autopsy was conducted on Nascimento's body on Sept. 18. He was laid to rest at the Jardim da Memória Cemetery in Novo Hamburgo the following day.

“He was a warrior, a working man, a wonderful family man. He was everything to us,” Nascimento’s godmother, Angela Maria de Oliveira, said.

“He will be sorely missed in our lives, it was a full house with him, always a full house,” she added.