Evening star., 1955-06-12

q neaVy TOLL among Cne spec
tators. Pieces of hot metal cut
bodies apart.
M. Huet, chief police inspector
who directed the removal OF
dead and dying, said he knew
of two children who were de-
capitated. The dazed parents
took the bodies away without
informing police.
The number of dead was rising
"as various injuries turn out to
be fatal" he added.
The accident was one of the
worst in the history of racing
possibly the most catastrophe.
Driver Killed
Among the dead was the driver
OF the silver German racing car,
Pierre Lcvegh of France.
John Fitch of Stamford, Conn,
was the relief driver for Levegh
in the crashed Mercedes but he
was not in the car at the time
Of the crash.
A high-ranking police officer,
his arms bloody to the elbow,
said an hour after the crash
bodies were still being dragged
from the crowd.
MANY of the injured are so
mutilated they cannot live" he
said, "We will never know the
full cost of this. I fought the war
and never did I see such car
nage."
3 Cars Abreast
The accident occurred when
three cars roared abreast in the
half mile straight-away in front
OF the stands. A crowd of about
250.000 spectators, many of them
20 to 80 deep along the outside
rail behind the protecting wall
watched in horror as two of the
cars collided with a splintering
crash.
The sleek racers were streak
ing along at about 125 miles per
hour.
A British Austin Healey driven
by the Briton Lance Macklin,
veered, scraping and smashing
along the cement wall in front
of the pits. Several spectators
were injured on that side of the
track. among them Macklin.
HurtleS Fence
The second car, the Mercedes,
brushed against the pit wall,
bounced off and headed at a
right angle across the track.
catapulting over a six-foot dirt
wall, over a picket fence and
plunging in a flaming dive
straight into the massed crowd
OF screaming people.
The third car, not identified
In the excitement of the crash,
whizzed by without getting
touched. 1t was in a tight for
nation with the two cracked up
cars but escaped ENHANCEMENT.
Bodies and the injured were
taken to hospitals in LIE Mans,
a city of 10000 about 100 miles
southwest of Paris, and to near
by towns.
Officials at the track put out
a call for blood donors among
the spectators to help treat the
victims with transfusions.
An official list showed 10
fatalities. all but 16 identified.
All the identified were French
except one man from London
and another from Spain.
American Injured
Among the injured admitted
to a lie Mans hospital was Roy
Hunton, identified as an Ameri-
can serviceman with the Sc
rial number 532-467-15 (no home
town available. So far no
Americans have been reported
among the dead.
Early today the entire Mer-
cedeS team withdrew from the
race, the company explaining
that the drivers had gone into
mourning for Levegh.
At the time of the withdrawal
a Mercedes team, Juan Fangio
and Stirling Ross, was leading.
The race is the most famous
for sports cars and important
to automobile car makers. 1t
is run over a closed asphalt
highway circuit of 1892 kilo-
meters e miles, 675 yards.
While the dead and injured
were being carried from the
scene, the race continued, the
roars of the motors mingling
with the screams of the injured
and the dying.