Marcos Leonel Rivera Durán's Fatal Crash @ Santa Tecla 2014
The "Cuarto de Milla Drag Tecleño" was a drag street race sanctioned by the Municipality of Santa Tecla, El Salvador. The event was held on a quarter-mile stretch of the 2a Calle Poniente in the town of Santa Tecla, department of La Libertad, west of the capital city San Salvador. The race was marred by a horrific accident that resulted in the death of a young spectator and at least six others injured.
About 17h00 on Sunday, 21 December 2014, during one of the races, the black Volkswagen Beetle driven by Óscar Edgardo Ibáñez Pleitez went out of control, while running on the right lane. Midway through the dragstrip, the car swerved to the left side and plowed into the crowd that lined the track. A nine-year-old boy, Marcos Leonel Rivera Durán was killed almost instantly; two other men, Wilberto Rodríguez Panameño and Manuel Enrique Durán Quintanilla were taken to hospital with severe injuries.
The first reports indicated that the victims of the accident were two, but this was not true, all the hospitalized people eventually recovered. After the tragedy, the driver Ibáñez Pleitez was charged with murder as well as the race organizers for their part in the fatal accident. The outcome of the trial is not known.
This was the second fatal accident involving spectators which happened in the town of Santa Tecla. On 06 March 1966 seven spectators were killed during a street course race. Ironically, 48 years earlier, the first accident took place in Calle Ciriaco López, a few hundred meters from 2a Calle Poniente.
R.I.P
About 17h00 on Sunday, 21 December 2014, during one of the races, the black Volkswagen Beetle driven by Óscar Edgardo Ibáñez Pleitez went out of control, while running on the right lane. Midway through the dragstrip, the car swerved to the left side and plowed into the crowd that lined the track. A nine-year-old boy, Marcos Leonel Rivera Durán was killed almost instantly; two other men, Wilberto Rodríguez Panameño and Manuel Enrique Durán Quintanilla were taken to hospital with severe injuries.
The first reports indicated that the victims of the accident were two, but this was not true, all the hospitalized people eventually recovered. After the tragedy, the driver Ibáñez Pleitez was charged with murder as well as the race organizers for their part in the fatal accident. The outcome of the trial is not known.
This was the second fatal accident involving spectators which happened in the town of Santa Tecla. On 06 March 1966 seven spectators were killed during a street course race. Ironically, 48 years earlier, the first accident took place in Calle Ciriaco López, a few hundred meters from 2a Calle Poniente.
R.I.P