A Seattle area high school football player injured in a game on Friday died in hospital on Monday, the latest in a spate of fatalities among youth gridiron players.

Kenney Bui, a senior at Technology, Engineering and Communications (TEC) high school in Seattle, was playing defensive back when he was hurt in the fourth quarter of a game on Friday.

He died on Monday morning, the superintendent of the Highline School District said in a statement posted on the district's website.

"It is with great sadness that School Board President Bernie Dorsey and I share with you that TEC High School senior Kenney Bui, who was critically injured in Friday night’s Evergreen v. Highline football game, died Monday morning at the hospital," superintendent Susan Enfield said.

"This is a devastating loss for all of us -- Evergreen students, families, and staff, and our entire Highline community. Our deepest condolences go out to Kenney’s family and all who knew him. Please join us in keeping them in your thoughts and prayers."

Student athletes from TEC and two other small schools, the Arts & Academics Academy and Health Sciences & Human Services High School, compete together as the Evergreen High School Wolverines.

School district officials did not confirm a cause of death, although local media reported the 17-year-old Bui had been treated for a head injury.

Bui's death follows that of 17-year-old quarterback Evan Murray, who suffered a lacerated spleen when he was hit during a Warren Hills Regional High School game in New Jersey on September 25.

On September 5, 16-year-old Tyrell Cameron died after sustaining a neck injury during a punt return in a game for Franklin Parish High in Louisiana and later in September 16-year-old linebacker Ben Hamm died in hospital a week after suffering a head injury in a game in Oklahoma.
Source: AFP