Unanswered questions at Christmas-time

The following story appeared in the Guardian yesterday, and left me a little confused. The story started: -

"...Children watched in horror as a Santa Claus collapsed and died as he handed out presents at a Christmas party on Sunday."

Tragic as this news was, the following sentence seemed to be totally unrelated to the first and read: -

"...Andrew Robertson was taken ill as the excited youngsters received their gifts. The 82-year-old was taken to a side room and attempts made to revive him,but he was pronounced dead when medics arrived."

Clearly the newspaper editor, struggling with the enormity of the news regarding the death of Santa and what this will mean to the children of the world, let his standards slip and mixed two different stories which were only linked by a theme of "untimely death".
The third sentence didn't clarify anything: -

"...Mr Robertson, from Dundee, had played Santa at the city's Broughty Castle bowling club Christmas party, held for the grandchildren of members, for several years."

What do they mean "played"? Did Santa actually play bowls? How many people died?