LUCERNE VALLEY, Calif. (AP) — An off-road truck sailed off a jump and hurtled into a crowd at a race in the California desert, pinning bodies beneath it and sending others flying into a chaotic cloud of dust in a crash that killed eight people, authorities and witnesses said Sunday.
Twelve people were injured in the crash that came shortly after the twilight start of the California 200 Saturday night in the Mojave Desert, said San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Bachman.
Witnesses said the driver took a jump known as "the rockpile" at high speed, hit his brakes on landing and rolled sideways into a crowd of hundreds of people standing with no barriers next to the course.
"He hit the rock and just lost control and tumbled," said Matt March, 24, of Wildomar, who was standing next to the jump. "Bodies went everywhere."
March said he and several other fans lifted the truck, which came to rest with its oversized wheels pointing toward the sky, and found four people lying unconscious underneath.
At least seven of those killed were in their 20s, including 24-year-old Zachary Freeman of Fillmore, according to the San Bernardino County coroner.
Freeman's girlfriend Niky Carmikle, 19, said she had left Freeman and his best friend — 24-year-old Dustin Malson of Ventura, who also was killed — to go to the bathroom when the crash happened. When she returned she found the wild aftermath.
"Bodies all over the ground, people screaming, and all I wanted to do was find my boyfriend and my friends," Carmikle told The Associated Press on Sunday.
Brian Wolfin, 27, and Anthony Sanchez, 23, both of Escondido died at the scene, and Aaron Farkas, 25, of Escondido died at a hospital. Also killed were Danica Frantzich, 20, of Las Vegas, Andrew Therrin, 22, of Riverside, Zachary Freeman, 24, of Fillmore.
The eighth victim died in Riverside County, and no name has been released.
John Payne, 20, of Anaheim said he was among the first people to reach the truck. He said the victims included one person who was decapitated.
"It was complete chaos," Payne said.
It took rescue vehicles and helicopters more than half an hour to reach the remote location, and spectators including off-duty police and firefighters helped the injured and placed blankets over the dead.
Six people died at the scene and two others died after being taken to a hospital, authorities said. Seven ambulances and 10 emergency aircraft responded, airlifting most of the 12 injured people from the area to hospitals.
Paramedics brought six people — five adults and a child — to Loma Linda University Medical Center, spokesman Herbert Atienza said Sunday. He had no information on their condition.
Officials said the driver, whose name has not been released, wasn't hurt. It was not clear why he lost control of the truck. Phone and e-mail messages left for the organizer, South El Monte-based Mojave Desert racing, were not immediately returned.
The 200-mile race is part of a series held in the Mojave Desert's Soggy Dry Lake Bed near the city of Lucerne Valley, 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
Tens of thousands of people attend the California 200, in which a variety of off-road vehicles take jumps and other obstacles and reach speeds of over 60 mph on the 50-mile off-road course. The race had been scheduled to last through the night.
The crowd, which included children, was standing within 10 feet of the track with no guard rails separating them from the speeding vehicles.
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