Mother-to-be among 6 killed in rally crash horror

A damaged rally car sits on the back of a flatbed tow truck near the village of Carlal where six people lost their lives. Picture: AFP/Getty

Police said that 16 people had been injured, some critically, after the accident at the A  Coruna car rally.

Television footage showed the car crashing off the road into spectators in a cloud of dust. Police said that the car had been going too fast.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy expressed his condolences on Twitter.

He said the rally had been “tinged with mourning”.

“My heartfelt condolences for those killed. I wish the injured a full and speedy recovery,” he added.

The accident happened at around 8pm local time (6pm GMT) on Saturday evening near the town of Carral in the province of Galicia.

Local media reported that the driver and navigator were not among the injured.

Witnesses described seeing the rally car fly off the dirt track and into the crowd as it attempted to take a bend at high speed.

The car – a Peugeot 206 with the number 39 on its door – is believed to have smashed through a group of around  20 spectators.

There were no safety barriers in place to separate the spectators and the track.

Spanish media reported that it was being driven by local man Sergio Tabeayo Sande, nicknamed Tisi, who was in the car with his co-driver Luis Miguel Prego.

Organisers immediately suspended the race – in which more than 100 participants were competing – in the wake of the  incident.

Among the casualties confirmed so far were four women and two males, one of whom was a child aged eight.

Three of the dead are thought to be from Cambre, near the scene of the tragedy, with one of the women said to have been killed understood to be nine months pregnant.

Her partner was also reported to have died.

The La Coruna‬ Rally takes place in the Spanish municipality of Carral, located in the north west of the country

Monica Carrillo tweeted: “Two dead and several injured in a rally in Coruna‬ in the last minute.”

Another witness suggested that “there may be two dead and a dozen injured”.

Eyewitnesses told Spain’s Ideal news site the scene was “chaotic”.

The race was organised by the Escuderia La Coruna‬ group, who host 11 high-speed contests a year.

Their inaugural event was held in 1982.

Escuderia La Coruna‬ uploaded an image of a black ribbon to their Facebook page in honour of those who lost their lives in the crash.

Alongside it, they wrote: “For the victims of the accident today in Carral.”

The Toyota Breogán racing team, who were taking part in the race, also paid their own  tribute. In an online post, they said: “We send our deepest sympathy to the families.”