(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2007-12-06 10:14

A young Shanghai sports shooter was accidentally shot dead by a teammate at a training session, authorities said on Wednesday.

Chen Zejun, 20, a member of Shanghai's skeet shooting reserve team, was rushed to the central hospital in Minhang District after he was shot in the stomach by a teammate on Monday.

According to the hospital, Chen died from excessive bleeding after a two-hour fight for his life.

Chen and his teammates were training at the Shanghai Shooting and Archery Sport Center in Minhang District about 6:40pm on Monday.

During a break, a teammate of Chen asked to look at a defective bullet that had failed to fire in their previous training session. He loaded the bullet, which he thought was a dud, into a gun and began playing and joking with Chen.

But the gun was fired and the bullet was accidentally shot into Chen's belly, police said.

The gun was fired at close range and even though it seemed to leave only a minor wound, it caused serious internal damage, a doctor from the hospital said.

The doctor said staff on duty that day were astonished to see the extent of the gun wound - the bullet had severed an artery when it was fired and even though Chen was fit and healthy it was impossible to save his life.

The management of the sport center held an emergency meeting on Tuesday and all the coaches of the skeet shooting team attended. They have refused to talk about the accident.

The case has attracted the attention of the General Administration of Sports of China, according to the Shanghai Sports Administration.

The center was shut down after the incident and Chen's dormitory, which was located in the center, has been sealed off.