An unexpected tragedy unfolded at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in Glasgow, Scotland, when a 55-year-old man died on the premises after a fall from a balcony on Wednesday, September 11.
Police, paramedics, and Glasgow’s trauma response team arrived onsite after the man fell at around 12:30pm. The gallery was shuttered for the remainder of the day, but reopened as scheduled this morning.
“Emergency services attended but the man was sadly pronounced dead at the scene,” a spokesperson for GoMA said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with his family and friends, and we will continue to offer assistance in any way we can.”
The spokesperson noted that emergency services do not believe that there were any suspicious circumstances surrounding the fatal incident, and a report will be sent to the procurator fiscal — a public prosecutor in Scotland that investigates all sudden or suspicious deaths.
At the heart of Glasgow’s Royal Exchange Square, GoMA is the most visited modern art gallery in Scotland, and draws international crowds for its exhibitions, not to mention the iconic Duke of Wellington statue just outside the premises that famously has a traffic cone on its head.
This is the third fall-related death reported at a United Kingdom art institution in the last year, following a similar incident at the Tate Modern in London in early February and an earlier fatality at the Courtauld Gallery last October.
