Coldstream, Scotland - These are the moments when an out-of-control rally car careered into a crowd of spectators, killing three people and leaving one man fighting for his life.
Horrified spectators spoke of the moment the car flew off a humpback bridge, before spinning off the track and crushing a couple and two others watching the race.
The tragedy came just hours after another car in the event struck five spectators, leaving one critically injured.
Witnesses said spectators had been standing in dangerous areas along the rally route. It emerged one driver nearly pulled out of the race after saying rally fans were “all over the road taking photos.”
Elizabeth Allan, 63, her partner Iain Provan, 64, and Len Stern, 71, all from near Glasgow, were killed in the accident during the Jim Clark Rally in the Scottish borders on Saturday.
A 61-year-old man was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary in a critical condition. It is understood one of the men had been moved from a spot on the bridge by stewards, who had said it was too unsafe.
One spectator spoke of the moment the car careered off the road and crashed into the group of four people.
Leigh Hood, 38, a floor layer from Edinburgh, said: “Everyone was screaming and running towards the car to try to help but it was too late.” One rally driver, Euan Thorburn, said the victims were all “experienced motorsport people” who “knew the dangers.”
He added: “There were three chances for them to move. When the safety car came round to check the track was safe and the position of spectators, they stood back in the field but then they moved too close again – about two feet away from the track.
“I told the marshals to tell them. The marshals did but they refused to move. It is a bad place to stand – with the speeds the cars are going at, if anything goes wrong you have no chance.”
The car in the accident was driven by David Carney, 26, from County Mayo, Ireland. Friends said he was “distraught.”
Daily Mail