Today's Edition
PARIS (dpa)
A third person has died after a racing car at the Rallye de la Fourme in central France struck several people who were watching the event, reports said on Saturday.
The car veered off the road during the event in the Puy-de-Dôme region, local officials said in a post on X.
After two people were killed at the scene, a third person who was seriously injured died later in the hospital.
Two of the people who died were brothers, aged 60 and 70, according to reports citing the public prosecutor's office. They said the third person was a father, 44.
"Several people" who were present at the time of the accident were also in shock and were attended to by medics, reports said.
An investigation into negligent homicide has been launched, according to broadcaster BFMTV, citing the public prosecutor's office.
The car was driven by a 22-year-old woman, accompanied by a 51-year-old co-driver, the reports said.
The rally was immediately stopped, said local official Joël Mathurin, according to a video broadcast by French channel BFMTV.
The race organisers confirmed this in a brief post on Facebook, saying the race was stopped shortly before 11 am (0900 GMT). "There will be no award ceremony," they said.
The accident affected spectators who were in a cordoned-off area, reports said.
An investigation has been launched to clarify the circumstances, Mathurin said in the video on BFMTV.
Psychological support was also being provided nearby.
The same rally was overshadowed by a fatal accident last year, when a race car hit a man responsible for securing the track, the organisers said.
