FABENS, Texas (AP) — Officials say a 21-year-old man was killed and seven other people were injured when a vehicle crashed through a guardrail and plowed into a crowd at a mud racing event in Texas.
The El Paso County Sheriff’s Department says the crash happened Sunday night at a racetrack in Fabens, about 40 miles southeast of El Paso.
Authorities say eight people were taken to the hospital. They said Monday that Willie Valadez Ramirez was pronounced dead and two people remained in critical but stable condition.
The sheriff's department says three other vehicles were also struck as a result of the initial crash.
It was not immediately known what caused the vehicle to leave the track.
Commander Scott Smith, with Rock Solid Protection, explained to KVIA that mud may have determined where the vehicle went at the track.
"The mud can tell the car where to go at times. The car, that's exactly what it did. It told the car to go,” said Smith. “It jumped out of the pit and right at the end of the track. And as it landed at that time, it did hit the guardrail in between the fans and the racetrack. And it went through the guardrail and impacted cars that were behind it. And the three vehicles that the race car hit, that's where the vehicle stopped, about five feet past the guardrail."
