Near-tragedy happened last night in Stevenage, when 2 speeding cars collided and then careered into the crowd at what was supposed to be a “static” event for car enthusiasts, according to the organizer.
The BBC reports that police have confirmed 17 victims: 2 are seriously injured and 15 are hurt. All things considered, it’s a miracle no one was killed. The accident happened as one of the vehicles was doing about 70 mph, and both cars skidded into the crowd that was looking on from the sides.
A black Toyota GT 86 is pulling out of a lane into the main road, as a speeding Nissan 350Z approaches. The Nissan clips the Toyota, which sends both cars into the crowds standing on each side of the road.
Police believe the charity event was illegal street racing, but organizer Rix Sidhu denies it. He says it was supposed to be a “static” car meet for enthusiasts and that it got “ruined by a minority.” They were trying to raise money for charity but the Toyota driver came there thinking they were at the races. Hence the accident.
“We don’t condone street racing, we organize static meet-ups,” Sidhu says in a statement to the Daily Mail. “We park up and walk about and admire the cars, we’ve even had families come in the past. We’ve been doing this for 10 years. But we can’t control everyone and we don’t promote this. We are not boy racers, we are car enthusiasts.”
“We saw the car (Toyota) come into the car park and recklessly do a donuts, It then pulled out of the car park on to the main road and then it was hit by the Nissan, which was coming at speed. I’d say at least 60 or 70mph. The cars collided and then went into the crowd at speed. There were several younger people in the crowd, but they weren’t kids. They were about 18 years old-plus.”
Other eyewitnesses tell local media that the victims were on average kids, aged 14 to 17. Because of what happened, Sidhu has decided to cancel the event and is urging those with video of the crash to hand it over to the police and not share it on social media.
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