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The driver of an off-road vehicle taking part in a California 200 race lost control and plowed into the crowd of spectators yesterday, killing 8 and injuring at least a dozen others, reports LA Now.
The race was being "held on desolate Soggy Dry Lake on federal desert land just east of the San Bernardino Mountains" and "was sanctioned by Mojave Desert Racing and was part of a seven-race circuit," explains the LA Times. "Off-roaders race around the 50-mile-long loop four times and hit speeds topping 60 mph."
The driver survived the crash but had to be whisked away from the scene because of the chaos that erupted. The California Highway Patrol immediately launched an investigation of the accident. “People didn’t have much of a chance … to get out of the way," describes CHP Officer Joaquin Zubieta.