Olympic Officials Watch as Man Falls to His Death

Olympic officials were relaxing in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Thursday when a man fell to his death in front of them from a 19th-floor balcony.

“There was an almighty bang,” said Michael Payne, director of marketing for the International Olympic Committee. “For a minute no one knew what happened. Then we turned around and saw a body.”

Said another witness, Olympic filmmaker Bud Greenspan: “I thought, ‘Somebody’s been shot.’ Everybody ducked under the tables because they thought there was a shooter.”

The man, who was not identified, was not affiliated with the various Olympic organizations meeting in the hotel, officials said.

“He was absolutely not part of the Olympic movement,” said Bob Brennan, spokesman for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games.

The incident occurred at about 12:30 p.m., when many Olympic officials and other guests mingled in the lobby or sat at the bar.

Greenspan said the man fell at a spot where guests had been standing only a short time earlier.

Also nearby was Anita DeFrantz, the U.S. representative on the IOC executive board. More than a half-hour later, she was still shaken.

The hotel, which has 22 floors with balconies overlooking the lobby, has been the scene of several suicides over the years.