A rugby player has died after jumping from a bridge during a night out to celebrate his team’s victory.
Kelly Meafua was found dead on the banks of the river Tarn, in Montauban, southwestern France.
Samoan, who plays for Montauban, a club in the country’s second division, in a statement said he passed away in the early hours of Saturday.
Media reports in France say Meafua jumped off the 72ft (22m) Pont-Vieux bridge after leaving a nightclub with friends, following his team’s 48-40 win over his former club , Narbonne, earlier that evening.
Montauban said one of the 31-year-old’s teammates tried to rescue him and had to be transported to hospital, where he was treated for hypothermia.
The club said: “Kelly is a player loved by everyone. His joy in life is always contagious and radiant. Today we have lost a player, a friend and a brother. you”.
The former Samoa player moved to France in 2015 to join Narbonne before returning to the Southern Hemisphere.
He returned to the French second division in 2018 with the Beziers, then signed with Montauban.
