Spectator Killed During Dakar Rally

SALTA, Argentina – Dakar Rally officials have announced that a 63-year-old spectator was killed during the seventh stage of the event on Saturday afternoon.

The accident involved the Mitsubishi Lancer of Frenchman Lionel Baud. A statement from event organizers indicated Baud’s car struck the fan "who was isolated on the race course.

"Once at the [accident] site, the medical service of the organization unfortunately could only note the death of the injured person. Alerted by the organization, the Bolivian authorities represented by the prosecution, went to the site by helicopter of the organization in order to determine the circumstances of the accident."

It is the first death of this year’s event and the first fatality involving a fan since 2013, when a support vehicle was involved in an accident with two vehicles in Peru, killing two spectators.

This is the second incident involving spectators during the rally this year. Several spectators were injured in the prologue stage at the start of the Dakar Rally after being hit by the Mini of Chinese driver Guo Meiling, leaving one critically injured.