Track marshals waved yellow flags to warn other drivers to slow down after a car overturned on the track.
Colombo:
At least seven people were killed and 21 others injured when a car plowed into a crowd of spectators at a packed racing event hosted by the Sri Lankan army on Sunday, police said.
A rider crashed into a crowd on an unprotected stretch of the Fox Hill track maintained by the Sri Lankan army.
A video widely circulated on social media showed track officials waving yellow flags to warn other drivers to slow down after a car overturned on the track.
At least seven people were killed and more than 20 injured after a car ran off the track and crashed into a crowd of spectators at the Fox Mountain Supercross in Diatalawa today.#srilanka#foxhill#Diyatalawaaccidemtpic.twitter.com/AFeoYGwCQY
— Iswaran Christian Rutnam (@easwaranrutnam) April 21, 2024
Drivers sped by in a cloud of orange dust until a red car plowed into the crowd and screams were heard.
“A total of 27 people were taken to hospital, seven of whom succumbed to their injuries,” spokesman Nihal Thalduwa said, adding that an 8-year-old girl was among the dead.
Shortly before the accident, Army Chief of Staff Vikum Liyanage announced that the event had been opened free to spectators in an effort to promote motorsport, the first in five years due to the coronavirus pandemic and the island’s economic crisis. hold.
“Today is a very special day… We have decided to allow free admission to anyone,” Liyanage said, claiming there were around 100,000 spectators at the Fox Hill circuit, about 180 kilometers (112 miles) east of Colombo.
Sri Lanka’s roads are among the most dangerous in the world. On average, eight fatalities are reported every day on 12,500 kilometers (7,812 miles) of roads.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
