Four Killed, 23 Injured in France After Driver Loses Control in Race
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ALENCON, France — Four people were killed and 23 injured Sunday when a race car went out of control and flew into a crowd of spectators.
Witnesses said one of the drivers in the Inter-Nations Cup race hit a bump while traveling too fast and lost control, sending his car hurtling into the crowd.
Three helicopters ferried the injured, eight of whom were seriously hurt, to hospitals near the racetrack in Essay, 125 miles west of Paris.
The driver of the car, Jos Sterkens, 42, of Belgium, suffered a fracture but was not seriously hurt.
“On a curve, the driver in the lead lost control of his car and went over the security embankment,” prefect Bernard Tomasini said. “This caused a pileup, and another car also went over the embankment and flew into the crowd.”
The race was immediately stopped.
The Inter-Nations Cup is the European championship for a type of racing known as “rally-cross,” on a track that is part asphalt, part dirt.
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