Eight killed, 12 injured in California desert race

At least eight people were killed and 12 were injured after a vehicle ploughed into a crowd of spectators at a popular off-road race in Southern California, local officials said early Sunday.

The accident occurred at about 7:40 pm Saturday (0240 GMT Sunday) at a race called the California 200, which is traditionally held in Soggy Dry Lake Bed near the city of Lucerne Valley in the Mojave Desert, the officials said.

The tragedy is being investigated by the California Highway Patrol, which has sent its major accident investigation team to the scene.

Local fire department supervisor Tim Franke told reporters at least four of the injured were in serious condition and were taken by air ambulance to nearby trauma centres.

According to a report by KCAL 9, a Los Angeles television station, the accident happened at the beginning of the race, when one of the off-road trucks went off the track from the starting line and plunged into the crowd.

The dry lake is located about 100 miles (165 kilometres) northeast of Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Times reported the race had been organized by Mojave Desert Racing (MDR), a Southern California corporation headquartered in South El Monte.

The corporate website insisted MDR organized 12 desert car races in a year for 20 different classes of vehicles and provided “an exciting, rewarding, and safe environment for off-road racing in four locations: Barstow, Lucerne Valley, Ridgecrest, and Plaster City.” But KABC TV reported that amateur videos taken during last year’s race showed off-road vehicles performing stunts close to spectators with only plastic netting separating them.

A flyer listed on a site indicated that fees to enter the race ranged from 200 dollars to 440 dollars.

A total of 87 drivers were registered to take part in Saturday’s race, The Times said.

The desert accident occurred less than a month after a bus accident on a California highway near the city of Fresno killed six people and left nine others with serious injuries.

The July 22 accident involved a Greyhound bus, which toppled off a highway after the bus driver swerved to avoid hitting a car, crashed through a highway divider and then hit another vehicle.

A fleet of Greyhound company buses ferry nearly 25 million Americans and tourists between cities in the United States and Canada each year.