VILNIUS - The Lithuanian rally championship, the first of its kind, ended tragically on Jan. 29 in Visaginas when one spectator was killed and nine more were injured.
Several accidents took place during the race 's one, the result of two spectators attempting to cross the track during a race and the others occurring after a driver lost control of his vehicle and drove into a crowd.
The auto race was temporarily suspended less than an hour after starting when a Subaru Impreza crashed into a tree after breaking through the security rope and hitting a spectator. The victim was immediately treated by paramedics and rushed to a hospital.
After competitors had completed their second drive later in the afternoon, two crowd members attempted to cross the track while a Volkswagen Golf was quickly approaching. One spectator made it safely across 's the other, however, was struck by another participating car.
Officials suspended the competition for the second time while an ambulance delivered the man to an emergency room. He suffered brain damage as a result of the accident.
The third and most tragic accident took place after half of the competitors had already completed their races. An Opel Kadett spun out of control, plummeting from a hill into a nearby ditch, striking six viewers along the way. One of them, a 46-year-old Vilnius resident, died after being hospitalized. Another two victims remained in critical condition as of Jan. 30, according to the Lietuvos Rytas daily.
An eyewitness said that the man killed had not been drinking and was attending the race with his 6-year-old son. The victim was approaching the security rope to speak with an acquaintance when the out-of-control vehicle struck him. It was this accident that finally suspended the competition.
By law, it is event organizers who are responsible for spectator safety.
A total of some 230 police officers were present at the event, which was held by the Nemuno Ziedas company. As required by safety procedure, four security cars circled the track before each race, warning spectators by loudspeaker to be especially careful during the event. Fifteen kilometers of safety ropes were used to mark dangerous strips.
State police and the Prosecutor General's Office are currently investigating the accidents. However, this was not the first time that rally spectators, who are often inebriated, have caused headache for event organizers.
Despite taking extra precautions, the organizers said they felt unable to properly warn every spectator on the 100-kilometer track.
Rally press spokesman Juozas Mazeika said that official accident conclusions would be announced after the investigation was completed, although it was already clear that many spectators ignored security warnings. He also admitted that alcohol was a primary reason for the significant amount of careless behavior.
One rally participant reported that some viewers were standing less than 30 meters from the track's dangerous curve. The driver added that he came dangerously close to stopping his vehicle mid-race due to the blinding camera flashes coming from the nearby crowd.
Some spectators, however, complained that rally participants were going too fast.
According to the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, event organizers are recommended to select tracks where it would be almost impossible to exceed an average of 132 kilometer per hour. Winners of the Visaginas rally completed all races with an average speed of 119 kilometers per hour, abiding to all FIA recommendations.
Saulius Girdauskas and his navigator Audrius Sosas won the event, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII. This marked Girdauskas' fifth first-place finish at the Visaginas rally.
