The deceased fan was just behind a dune at the time of the accident.
This Wednesday, a tragedy mourned the Dakar Rally 2023, after confirming the death of the 69-year-old Italian fan who was run over by the Czech pilot Ales Loprais (Prague) during the ninth stage.
The European competitor and leader of the general classification of trucks, lamented the death of the spectator, who was behind a dune taking photos and whom he did not see at the time the accident occurred. An accident that he found out about hours later, when the Dakar commissioners showed him the videos.
“I have very bad news. We were already in bed when the stewards showed us a video of a race accident in which we hit a man who was taking photos of his wife behind a dune.”began by recounting Loprais on his social networks.
Along the same lines, he added: “He was injured, nauseated for two or three hours, and then suffered a heart attack while being taken to the hospital. A human life has ended because of me, indirectly, because I was the one who was driving.”.
The Czech also explained that neither he nor his crew “realized” what had happened and corroborated it with the videos of the event, including one from inside the cabin.
#Dakar2023: Truck overall leader Aleš Loprais has withdrawn from the Rally following the fatal accident involving a spectator in Stage 9.
He explained that his truck clipped the man, who was photographing him, and later suffered a heart attack on the way to hospital. pic.twitter.com/ltGqFh9kxB
— Justin Nguyen ???? (@ZappaOMatic) January 11, 2023
“That does not change that a human life has ended. The man was Italian, I don’t know his name because of his research, a 69-year-old person who came to see the Dakar and who unfortunately was behind that dune… None of us saw him.”he pointed out.
The pilot conveyed his condolences to the family and friends of the deceased, assuring that what happened will “accompany him for the rest” of his life.
On the other hand, during this day of Wednesday, Loprais did not start the tenth stage of the Dakar after making himself available to the authorities following the accidentTherefore, he will not be able to defend his leadership and will have to collaborate with the investigation that has been opened to clarify the sad event on Tuesday.