California Man Dies After Taco-Eating Contest at Baseball Game

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"It was like he’d never eaten before," said a witness who watched on the Jumbotron. "He was just shoving the tacos down his mouth without chewing."

A Californian man has died after a taco-eating contest at a baseball game.

Dana Hutchings, 41, passed away after he began choking during the competition at Chukchansi Park on Tuesday night in Fresno, California.

Fans at the Fresno Grizzlies game watched the Jumbotron in horror as he shoved several tacos into his mouth, but then suddenly stopped, before the screen went black.

Grizzlies fan Matthew Boylan told the Fresno Bee Hutchings abruptly collapsed and hit his face on a table as he went down to the ground.

Paramedics quickly performed CPR, and had to clear food from his throat; he was then rushed to Community Regional Medical Center, but was pronounced dead thirty minutes later.

An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday; while an official cause of death has yet to be confirmed, Fresno County Sheriff-Coroner spokesman Tony Botti said choking was likely.

Shortly before his death, Hutchings told fellow fans he was starving himself as a strategy before the competition.

"It was like he'd never eaten before," Boylan said. "He was just shoving the tacos down his mouth without chewing."

The contest was being held on "Taco Tuesday" as a precursor to the ninth annual Taco Truck Throwdown, scheduled for Saturday.

As part of the popular Taco Tuesday promotion, the Grizzlies even temporarily change their name for home games to the Fresno Tacos.

Team president Derek Franks announced Wednesday that World Taco Eating Championship will be canceled after the fatal incident.

Hutchings leaves behind two teenage daughters.

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