El Pais: Six Killed & 16 Injured As Car Veers Off Rally Track In Spain [Graphic Video]
Six people were killed, including two pregnant women, when a car went out of control during a car rally in A Coruña, Spain. Reportedly, the driver was traveling too fast at the time.
According to El Pais, six people are dead: two pregnant women — one a few weeks from giving birth — as well as a young girl, another woman, and two men, including the husband of one of the pregnant women. Sixteen people were injured, six of them critically, in the accident.
The accident happened at around 8 p.m. Saturday evening in one section of the Rally de A Coruña, close to the town of Carral 20 kilometers from the capital. The car, a Peugeot 206, took a curve at high speed, and the driver lost control, plowing into the crowd of spectators lining the rally circuit.
A Civil Guard spokesman said, “One of the drivers took the track at a much higher speed than he should have and he veered off a curve, slamming into around 20 people.”
The moment of the incident was captured on an amateur video, included below.
Warning: The video is graphic and may upset sensitive viewers.
El Pais reports that the spectators were seated on a raised area just above the track. Five children were affected, two with minor injuries and three critically, and were taken to various hospitals in the A Coruña area. One child reportedly lost both his mother and his sister in the accident.
El Pais has published a gallery of photos of the incident.
Las imágenes de la tragedia del Rally de A Coruña http://t.co/u5LxM58E8b
— EL PAÍS (@el_pais) September 6, 2015
Tweet translation: “Photos of the tragedy of Rally de A Coruña”
According to El Pais, the Rally de La Coruña, which involves more than 130 competitors and has always had a great following among Galician fans, was immediately suspended following the accident.
More: Initial reports say the driver lost control at a curve and veered into the crowd at the Rally de A Coruña – el_pais
— GLOBAL NEWS (@news_24_365) September 5, 2015
The fiesta atmosphere in the nearby town of Carral immediately went quiet. Silence fell over the town as emergency services evacuated the injured and dead.
By sad coincidence, Sergio Tabeayo, the driver of the car involved in the accident, and his co-driver, Luis Prego, were from the same district in which the accident occurred.
El Pais quotes a spokesman for the Civil Guard as saying both men were unharmed in the accident and are being treated by psychologists, with an officer saying the men were understandably upset by what had occurred.
According to the Mayor of Carral, José Luis Fernández Mouriño, the area didn’t seem to be a danger zone, and many people were sitting on the side of the road as the cars passed by.
The New York Daily News reports Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy expressed feelings of regret over the accident during the Rally de A Coruña via Twitter, saying, “My condolences for those killed and wishes for a speedy and complete recovery to the wounded.”
El Rally de La Coruña se tiñe de luto. Mi sentido pésame por los fallecidos y deseos de pronta y completa recuperación de los heridos. MR — Mariano Rajoy Brey (@marianorajoy) September 5, 2015
As reported by El Pais, a court in A Coruña has opened proceedings to investigate potential liabilities arising from the incident. While investigations continue, several witnesses had said that minutes before the accident, race commissioners had passed through the area, asking attendees to move away from the ditches lining the road.
[Image: Rally de España 2011 CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Best Of Rally Live]
