ELO star Mike Edwards dies in freak hay bale accident

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ELO star Mike Edwards dies in freak hay bale accident

From: NewsCore September 06, 2010 6:11AM 4 comments

Mike Edwards (with cello), of '70s group ELO, has been killed in a freak accident after a hay bale rolled down a hill and smashed into his van, crushing the cab.
A FORMER member of the band Electric Light Orchestra, was killed when a nearly 318kg bale of hay rolled down a hill, flew out of a field and smashed into his van as he drove by.

London's Daily Telegraph reported Mike Edwards, 62, died instantly in the freak accident Friday on a highway in Devon, England.

He was a founding member of ELO and played cello with the band from 1972-75. He also was known for his bizarre costumes and for a cello solo piece in which his instrument "exploded".

He left the band to become a Buddhist and later changed his name to Deva Pramada.

The Telegraph said Edwards was driving down the A381 highway when the circular hay bale careened down a slope in a field beside the road, flipped over a hedge and went airborne into traffic, landing on the roof of his van.

A spokesman for the Devon and Cornwall police traffic unit said Edwards had been identified from photographs and YouTube footage, the paper said, but officials were still trying to locate any family members.