Local man dies in crash with Dakar competitor

The Dakar event, no matter where it takes place, has always been termed "dangerous" and while all of the competitors know the risks and accept them, innocent bystanders or locals on their own roads have lost their lives.

Early this morning in Argentina, it was reported that a local man identified by Argentine news agency Diario y Noticias as Marcelo Reales, died when the pickup truck he was driving was involved in a crash with the Toyota 4WD Jaton driven by Eduardo Amor, a competitor in the Car class.

Amor and his co-pilot Alejandro Fenoglio had completed yesterday's stage 10 special and were enroute to the bivouac of Chilecito. Even though most of the Dakar competitors had made it, the clock was still running for Amor and in order to not be disqualified from the event, he had to make it in the allotted time.

Per the Dakar official press release, the accident took place at 6:10am this morning (local time) near the small town of Tinogasta, 30kms past the final checkpoint of the special stage Amor had completed.

Amor and Fenoglio were reported to be okay and they did alert the safety alert which is located in all vehicles that compete in Dakar. The Dakar medical team was immediately dispatched along with a helicopter. Reales, 42, was treated at the scene and transported to the local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Per the organizers of the Dakar, "The justice of the Catamarca Province opened an enquiry in order to establish the circumstances of the accident."