A nine-year-old girl and her 12-year-old brother were killed on Sunday when a rally car shot off the road and crashed into a group of spectators during a race on the island of La Réunion.
The incident in Saint-Joseph left a third child in critical condition, who is currently receiving emergency treatment in hospital.
Local families had gathered along the route to watch the race when ‘a car left the road and hit the group on the shoulder head-on,’ a father in his forties told Le Parisien.
Emergency services and the police were immediately called to the scene.
An investigation into manslaughter has been launched, confirmed the Saint-Pierre public prosecutor Olivier Clémençon.
The driver and his co-driver were being questioned by the police until late afternoon.
‘Their blood alcohol and drug tests were negative,’ the prosecutor said.
The race was immediately called off following the tragic incident.
One of the drivers in Sunday’s car race, which marked the 18th edition of the Rallye de Saint-Joseph
One of the racing cars in the Rallye de Saint-Joseph, one of Réunion’s most popular sporting events which tests drivers with winding and technical tracks
The nine-year-old girl was pronounced dead first, while her brother continued to fight for his life in hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.
‘Our deepest thoughts are with their families, loved ones, and the entire rally community affected by this tragedy,’ the organisers of the Saint-Joseph rally posted on Facebook.
The Rallye de Saint-Joseph in Réunion is one of the most popular sporting events on the island, testing drivers with winding and technical tracks.
Sunday’s race marked the 18th edition of the Rallye de Saint-Joseph when disaster struck as the rally car passed through Plaine-des-Grègues.
The drivers of the car that shot of the road are said to be ‘safe’ and no serious injuries have been reported.
The victims were transported to Saint-Pierre University Hospital by helicopter.
A security perimeter has been set up around the scene of the accident to allow investigators and forensic officers to conduct work.
Initial findings suggest that there was no red tape to warn the spectators that they shouldn’t have been assembled in the location where the accident look place.
Patrick Lebreton, Mayor of Saint-Joseph, said: ‘An investigation is underway to determine the circumstances of this accident. But my thoughts go, above all, to the families of the victims, their loved ones, and all those who are deeply affected by this tragedy.
‘I extend to them, on my own behalf and on behalf of the municipal council, all my support, compassion, and solidarity in this terrible ordeal.
‘The City of Saint-Joseph is in mourning this evening.’
He added that there ‘are no words to express the pain I have felt since the announcement of this very heavy death toll, which affects children’.
‘What was supposed to be a celebration has become a tragedy,’ he said.
Emergency service personnel and a French gendarme stand by the roadside near the scene where spectators were killed after being hit by a car that veered off the road during an auto rally in Saint-Just, in France’s Puy-de-Dome department, on July 26, 2025
The 22-year-old driver was understood to have lost control during a 7km stage of the Rallye de la Fourme d’Ambert in the Puy-de-Dome region of central France, leaving the track and striking a group of spectators
This is not the first time this year that a French rally race has proved fatal for spectators.
In July, three people – including two brothers – were killed when a car veered off the road and crashed into the crowd.
The 22-year-old driver was understood to have lost control during a 7km stage of the Rallye de la Fourme d’Ambert in the Puy-de-Dome region of central France, leaving the track and striking a group of spectators.
Two brothers, aged 60 and 70, died at the scene, while a 44-year-old father was rushed to hospital but later succumbed to his injuries.
The driver and his 51-year-old co-driver both suffered only minor injuries.
In 2023, a 42-year-old steward was killed at the same event after being hit by a rally car while tending to a vehicle that had earlier gone off the road.