A black weekend in Italy: three accidents with four fatalities

The rallying scene in Lombardy and Liguria was particularly hard hit, whilst two young men died during the Monte Erice hill climb in Sicily. In all cases, the events were immediately called off; the causes of the accidents are now under investigation.

At the ‘1000 Miglia’ rally in the province of Brescia, a 63-year-old spectator was fatally injured when a rally car veered off the track after a hairpin bend and slid into a ditch. The man, who had travelled from the Turin area with his wife and daughter, is said to have been taking photographs at the side of the track when he was struck by the car. His two family members were unharmed.

The ‘Val d’Aveto’ rally in the Ligurian hinterland of Genoa also ended in tragedy. During the first special stage, a racing car veered off the road on a bend, first crashing into an embankment and then into a tree. The 43-year-old co-driver from Sanremo was trapped in the vehicle and died at the scene of the accident. The driver was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Earlier, another serious accident had occurred during the ‘Cronoscalata Monte Erice’ hill climb in the Trapani area of Sicily. According to consistent reports in the Italian media, a racing car lost control on a bend and struck several people. An 18-year-old and a 20-year-old lost their lives in the incident; one of them had been working as a race marshal. Despite immediate assistance and rapid transfer to hospital, neither could be saved.

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