Ford Mustang driver plows into crowd at car meet in Liberec Region: five injured

On Saturday evening, at a sports car meet held at the Kristina campsite near Hrádek nad Nisou in the Liberec Region, the driver of a Ford Mustang GT lost control during a demonstration run and plowed into a crowd of spectators. Five people were injured — three sustained minor injuries and two suffered moderate injuries.

What happened at the scene

According to police, rescuers reported the incident on Saturday at five minutes to eight in the evening. A gathering of sports car owners was taking place at the Kristina campsite when one of the participants lost control during a demonstration run. The man driving the Ford Mustang GT first crashed into two parked cars — a Honda and a Mercedes — and then, with the accelerator floored, drove straight into the crowd, said police spokeswoman Vladimíra Šritrová.

Tests for alcohol and drugs came back negative for the driver. The man was detained at the scene and is now under investigation while at liberty. If convicted, he faces up to three years in prison. The car was seized for forensic examination, in particular to rule out a technical fault.

Michael Georgiev, spokesman for the regional ambulance service, said several crews worked at the scene: "Five people were injured — three with minor injuries and two with moderate injuries. All of the injured were conscious and communicating with rescuers." After receiving first aid, they were taken to the trauma center at the Liberec hospital.

Organizers ask for videos to be deleted, police ask the opposite

As the organizers later wrote on their Facebook page (the post has since been deleted), the incident happened at the end of a loudest-car competition held during the meet: the last participant decided to rev his engine once more on the spot, but for reasons yet unclear, he first shifted into reverse, then into first gear, and floored the accelerator, causing the car to plow into the crowd. The organizers called the incident extremely regrettable and said the event had gone smoothly up to that point, and was called off immediately after the crash.

At the same time, the organizers asked participants to delete any recordings from the scene if possible and not to publish them anywhere. Police take the opposite view: the force is asking anyone with photos or video from the scene of the crash to hand them over to investigators, which will help establish all the circumstances of the incident. Information can be reported via the free emergency services line 158, Šritrová noted.

The wife of one of the injured has also appealed on social media for camera and phone footage. She wrote that she is looking for video of the black Mustang that suddenly drove into people at the campsite in Hrádek nad Nisou, in order to understand exactly what happened.

Mayor of Hrádek: the whole event should not be judged by one mistake

The mayor of Hrádek nad Nisou, Pavel Farský (of the Hrádek potřebuje změnu movement), also confirmed the crash. He said the event was organized by a private organizer who had an agreement on the use of the site with the company that runs the Kristina campsite; the meet has been held for several years, and previous gatherings had received good reviews.

"I don't know the details of the crash, but I'm convinced the event had been approved by the management. You can't judge an entire event by one person's mistake — otherwise we'd have to cancel the town festival in Hrádek too," Farský wrote on Facebook. He added that police would investigate the incident and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz