Official: More than 75 injured in Nev. air race crash, 25 critically; no word on deaths
A World War II era fighter plane plunged into the grandstands Friday during a popular annual air show, injuring at least 75 spectators and leaving a horrific scene of bodies and wreckage.
It wasn’t immediately known if anyone died in the crash but a spokesman for the event called it a “mass casualty situation.” Video showed a chaotic scene with several people apparently badly wounded.
Stephanie Kruse, a spokeswoman for the Regional Emergency Medical Service Authority, said 25 people were critically injured and another 25 people were seriously hurt in the crash. More than 25 more people were treated for minor injuries, she said.
Kruse said the critically injured were considered to have life-threatening injuries.
“This is a very large incident, probably one of the largest this community has seen in decades,” Kruse told The Associated Press. “The community is pulling together to try to deal with the scope of it. The hospitals have certainly geared up and staffed up to deal with it.”
The P-51 Mustang crashed into a box seat area at the front of the grandstand at about 4:30 p.m., race spokesman Mike Draper said.
KRNV-TV weatherman Jeff Martinez, who was just outside the air race grounds at the time, said the plane veered to the right and then “it just augered straight into the ground.”
“You saw pieces and parts going everywhere,” he said. “Everyone is in disbelief.”
