Virgilijus Danilevičius Fatal Crash @ Ralis Visaginas 2005
- 8 months ago
The Visaginas Rally, first round of the 2005 Lithuanian Rally Championship, held on Saturday, 29 January 2005, was marred by a number of accidents which resulted in the death of a man and nine others injured.
During the first leg, the rally was temporarily suspended for almost an hour, when a Subaru Impreza crashed into a tree hitting a spectator. The victim was immediately treated by paramedics and rushed to hospital.
After competitors had started the second leg in the afternoon, another spectator who attempted to cross the track while a Volkswagen Golf was quickly approaching, was struck. Officials suspended the competition for the second time while an ambulance transferred the injured man to an emergency room. He suffered brain damage as a result of the accident.
The third and most tragic accident took place after a half of the competitors had already completed the course of the seventh special stage. The Opel Kadett of Tomas Baltramiejūnas-Valdemaras Savickas spun out of control and left the road, ending into a ditch and hitting a group of spectators. One of them, forty-six-year old Virgilijus Danilevičius, who resided in the capital city Vilnius, succumbed to his injuries in a hospital. Nine other spectators were injured, two of them critically.
It appears that the victims were standing in a forbidden zone close to a notoriously dangerous turn. According to the newspaper The Baltic Times "a number of drunken people" crossed the path of competing cars during the event, but it is not confirmed whether this was a factor in the accident that killed Danilevičius, who was attending the rally with his 6-year-old son.
The event was called off after the accident. The local police launched an investigation on the crash; the outcome of this inquiry is unknown. Saulius Girdauskas and his navigator Audrius Sosas were declared winners of the event, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII.
R.I.P
During the first leg, the rally was temporarily suspended for almost an hour, when a Subaru Impreza crashed into a tree hitting a spectator. The victim was immediately treated by paramedics and rushed to hospital.
After competitors had started the second leg in the afternoon, another spectator who attempted to cross the track while a Volkswagen Golf was quickly approaching, was struck. Officials suspended the competition for the second time while an ambulance transferred the injured man to an emergency room. He suffered brain damage as a result of the accident.
The third and most tragic accident took place after a half of the competitors had already completed the course of the seventh special stage. The Opel Kadett of Tomas Baltramiejūnas-Valdemaras Savickas spun out of control and left the road, ending into a ditch and hitting a group of spectators. One of them, forty-six-year old Virgilijus Danilevičius, who resided in the capital city Vilnius, succumbed to his injuries in a hospital. Nine other spectators were injured, two of them critically.
It appears that the victims were standing in a forbidden zone close to a notoriously dangerous turn. According to the newspaper The Baltic Times "a number of drunken people" crossed the path of competing cars during the event, but it is not confirmed whether this was a factor in the accident that killed Danilevičius, who was attending the rally with his 6-year-old son.
The event was called off after the accident. The local police launched an investigation on the crash; the outcome of this inquiry is unknown. Saulius Girdauskas and his navigator Audrius Sosas were declared winners of the event, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VII.
R.I.P