Iranian Paralympic cyclist dies after crash in Rio

Iranian cyclist Sarafraz Bahman Golbarnez died after crashing at the Paralympics on Saturday.

"With immense regret we have to say Sarafraz Bahman Golbarnezhad...has died after an accident while racing," Iran's Paralympic Committee said in a statement.

The 48-year-old fell from his bike in the C4-5 event in Rio. He received emergency treatment at the roadside and was taken to hospital where he later died.

Golbarnezhad was an experienced Paralympian competing on a route that included the Gruman circuit used in last month's Olympic road races.

"He was an exemplary Paralympic sportsman who, with love and energy, tried his best to promote the name of Iran and to make all of us proud and at the end he gave his life for this," the Paralympic Committee added.

"All members of the Iranian cultural and sports camp here express condolences to his family and the Iranian nation. The name of Bahman Golbarnezhad will be inscribed in the proud history of Iranian Paralympics."

The Iranian flag was lowered to half-mast in the Paralympic Village and a period of silence will be observed during Sunday's closing ceremony, the BBC reported.

Golbarnezhad's death is the first in-competition fatality at a summer/winter Olympics or Paralympics since Danish cyclist Knud Enemark Jensen in the 100km team time trial at the 1960 Rome Games, the BBC said.