Eight people died when an off-road vehicle plowed into a crowd moments after sailing off a jump at a race in Southern California last night.
The accident happened shortly before 8pm at the race called the California 200, said San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman.
Ms Bachman said 12 people were injured, several seriously. Most were airlifted from the area to Loma Linda University Medical Center or St. Mary's Medical Center.
The race is part of a series held in Soggy Dry Lake Bed near the city of Lucerne Valley in the Mojave Desert, 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
David Conklin, a photographer covering the event for several off-road magazines, said the vehicle was among the first 20 off the line in the race, and had just gone over a jump known as "the rockpile."
Conklin said he watched the vehicle sail through the air then turned to wait for the next one when he heard a commotion.
"I heard screaming and shouting," said Conklin, who ran toward the vehicle. "I saw one woman with a major head wound lying in a pool of blood. Someone else was crushed beneath the car."
The crashed car eventually came to a rest upside down with its oversized wheels pointing toward the sky. It wasn't immediately clear if the driver of the car was among the casualties.
Bachman said the California Highway Patrol is leading the investigation of the crash because it took place in an unincorporated area.
Tens of thousands of people attend the California 200, in which dune buggy-style vehicles take jumps and other obstacles on the off-road course. The crowd gathers next to the track with little-or-no barrier between them and the vehicles.
The crash was the latest in a series of race accidents that have proved deadly to spectators.
A car plowed into a crowd that had gathered to watch an illegal drag race on a suburban road in Accokeek, Maryland, in February 2008, killing eight people and injuring five. The two racers were charged with vehicular manslaughter. Darren Bullock, 22, was senteced to 15 years in prison; Tavon Taylor, 20, is awaiting trial.
In Chandler, Ariz., in February, a female spectator was killed by a tire that flew off a crashing dragster at Chandler's Firebird International Raceway for the NHRA Arizona Nationals.
In Selmer, Tennessee, a dragster went out of control and smashed into spectators during a fundraising festival in June 2007, killing six people and injuring 22. Driver Troy Critchley, 38, was convicted of misdemeanor reckless assault charges and sentenced to 18 months probation.
AP