Rally accident kills six in northwestern Spain

The race car driver lost control and skidded off the track, killing four women and two men. According to early reports, one of the women who died might have been pregnant. Sixteen people, including at least three children, were injured, some critically.

Television footage showed a rally car careering off a woodland track into a throng of onlookers in a cloud of dust. Local media reported that the driver and co-driver were unharmed, which could not be confirmed independently.

Rally suspended

A Civil Guard spokesman told Reuters news agency, "One of the drivers took the track at a much higher speed than he should have and he veered off a curve, slamming into around 20 people."

Witnesses said that the location where the driver had lost control of the car was on a bend at Carral. The exact reasons for the accident were announced to now be under investigation.

Press reports said that the rally had been suspended.

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, who is from Galicia, said on his official Twitter feed:

"The Coruna Rally is in mourning. My deepest condolences to the bereaved and wishes for a complete recovery of those injured."

ss/bk (Reuters, AP, dpa)