List of Dakar Rally fatal accidents
Introduction This is a '''list of Dakar Rally fatal accidents''' involving both competitors and non-competitors who have died during a Dakar Rally event.Since 1979, 79 people are known to have died as a result of the Dakar rally. Among the 33 competitor fatalities, 24 were motorcycle related, 6 car related, 1 truck related, and 2 competitors died as a result of local rebel conflict. Up to 1992, collision was the most common cause of death among competitors.Among the 46 non-competitor fatalities are those of the race's founder Thierry Sabine, 14 news journalists and support crew, 23 spectators, and 4 children.The Dakar Rally has received criticism because of its high mortality rates, with the Vatican Paper describing the event as "the bloody race of irresponsibility". The event received particular criticism in the 1988 race, when three Africans were killed in collisions with vehicles involved in the race. PANA, a Dakar-based news agency, wrote that the deaths were "insignificant for the race's organizers". The Dakar organizers have not officially recorded or reported on African and Latin American spectator and innocent bystanders deaths. As a result, fatality numbers for the Dakar vary from source to source, and bystander victims usually remain unnamed.
List of fatal accidents involving competitors  No Name Date Place Stage Vehicle Type 1   January 1979 Agadez, Niger Agadez—Tahoua Yamaha XT 500 MotorcycleDodin, a French expatriate in Africa, lost control of his Yamaha while adjusting his helmet and fell approaching the start of the stage Agadez-Tahoua, hitting his head on a stone, sustaining a skull fracture. He was transferred to a hospital in Paris where he later died. 2   7 January 1982 Ecker, Algeria Quatre Chemins—Tit Yamaha XT 570 MotorcycleOosterhuis, former road racing champion in the Netherlands, was killed between Bordj Omar Driss and Tit in Algeria. He was 41 years of age. 3  Jean-Noël Pineau 14 January 1983 Léo, Upper Volta In-Gall—Korhogo Yamaha XT 550 MotorcycleIn his fourth rally, Team Yamaha-France rider Pineau was killed on a section of tarmac near Léo when he collided with a military vehicle. His best finish was third overall. 4  Yasuo Kaneko 2 January 1986 Sète, France Versailles—Sète Honda XR 500 MotorcycleIn his second start in the Dakar Rally, a non-entrant Peugeot 205 crashed into Kaneko's motorcycle at 01:30 on Thursday, 2 January 1986, about eight kilometres before the harbour of Sète, killing him instantly. The unnamed driver of the car was believed to have been driving under the influence of alcohol. Kaneko was 41 years of age. 5   24 January 1986 Dakar, Senegal Saint Louis—Dakar Cagiva Elefant 650 MotorcycleMarinoni, a test rider of production motorcycles for Cagiva and in his second rally, fell 40 km from the finish line at the final stage of the rally. He managed to reach the finish line in thirteenth place amongst 131 starters and 29 finishers of riders. Initially Marinoni did not feel that one of the brake levers of his Lucky Explorer-Cagiva had hurt his liver during the fall. He later arrived to be treated for his injuries in a hospital in Dakar, he succumbed to an infection two days later. 6  Jean-Claude Huger 17 January 1988 Nampalari Tombouctou—Bamako BMW R 100 GS MotorcycleHuger was an escort rider for the President of the Republic of France and motorcyclist of the Gendarmerie Nationale. He crashed his BMW RT100 into a ditch near Nampala and hit his head on a rock, sustaining cranial trauma and lapsing into a coma. He was airlifted to Paris where he died two days later without regaining consciousness. 7  Kees van Loevezijn 9 January 1988 Djado, Niger Djado—Agadez DAF FAV3600 95X2 TruckTheo van de Rijt, driver, Kees van Loevezijn, engineer, and Chris Ross from Scotland, were in a factory-entered DAF which had won its class the previous year. They hit a sand dune at about 180 km/h 20 km from the start of a  leg and somersaulted several times, destroying the truck. Van Loevezijn was thrown out of the truck and died instantly. Van de Rijt and Ross were taken to a hospital in Agadez and airlifted to the Netherlands where they recovered. DAF withdrew the team from the rally and later terminated all motor-sport activities, selling the trucks and spare parts to factory driver Jan De Rooy's team. De Rooy re-entered the rally in 2002, at the age of 58.8  Patrick Canado 9 January 1988 Arlit, Niger Djado—Agadez Range Rover AutomobileDuring the seventh stage of the rally, Djado-Agadez, on a large desert road, the Range Rover of French team René Boubet and Patrick Canado and the Mercedes-Benz 280 of Italian team Klaus Seppi and Ambrogio Azzuffi collided at full speed some 25 km from the start of Arlit. Boubet's car, as it had steering problems, suddenly swerved into the other car and rolled several times. Co-driver Canado was thrown out of the car and was killed instantly; Boubet was seriously injured. 9  François Picquot 3 January 1991 ?, Libya Ghadames—Idri Nissan Terrano AutomobileDuring the second stage of the rally, Jacques Houssat, at the wheel of a Perlini P105 truck, crashed into the Henri de Roissard's and François Picquot's Nissan Patrol. The latter sustained head injuries and broken pelvis; he was airlifted to a hospital in France, where he later succumbed to his injuries. Houssat was eventually the winner of the truck category. 10  Charles Cabannes 13 January 1991 In Kadeouane, Mali Tombouctou—Néma Mercedes-Benz TruckCabannes, a support truck driver for the Citroën factory team, was shot dead by rebels at the side of the road in the small village of In Kadeouane during the 8th stage of the rally. His co-driver Joël Guyomarc'h had a superficial wound. The killing was not claimed by any rebel organization in the following days but was believed to be related to the conflict between the Malian army and Tuareg rebels. Organisers cancelled the following two rounds on schedule and the Malian army escorted the competitors while passing through the country. After the incident, team Nissan-Spain withdrew from the race. 11  Laurent Le Bourgeois 27 December 1991 Sabha, Libya Sirte—Sabha Land Rover Defender Automobile 12  Jean-Marie SounillacThe Land Rover Defender of Laurent Le Bourgeois and Jean-Marie Sounillac was an assistance vehicle for Jean-Louis Schlesser's prototype buggy "Le Duc de Bourgogne". It overturned several times in the Libyan desert of Sabah just a few kilometers before the end of the fifth stage of the rally. The impact of the crash caused the roll-bar of the car to collapse and both the occupants were crushed and killed at the scene. 13  Gilles Lalay 7 January 1992 Lumonbo, Congo-Brazzaville Francaville—Pointe-Noire Yamaha-Byrd YZE750T MotorcycleTwo hours after the end of the Francaville-Pointe Noire stage in Congo, 1989 winner Lalay, who finished fourth on the stage, was en route to the bivouac, when he was struck head-on by a Toyota belonging to the medical-assistance of the event organisers TSO (Thierry Sabine Organization). Lalay was taken to hospital at Lumonbo, where he succumbed to his injuries some hours later. 14  Michel Sansen 4 January 1994 Nouakchott, Mauritania Nouakchott—Dakar BMW MotorcycleDuring the 8th stage, Sansen on his fifth start of the rally, running at speed on asphalt, suddenly lost control over a strip of sand, causing him to fall off, killing himself instantly. His nephew Jean-Philippe Miglotte, on another BMW, later immediately withdrew from the event following his uncle's death. 15  Laurent Gueguen 3 January 1996 Forum El Hassam, Morocco El Hassan—Smara Mercedes-Benz TruckWhile attempting to complete the 5th stage, Gueguen, driving a Mercedes-Benz truck (support vehicle for the Citroën team), got caught up in a conflict between the Moroccan army and the Polisario Front rebels. Following the stage, on a desert track some 400 meters from the signed path, the vehicle struck an abandoned Moroccan army land mine, causing it to explode, overturn, and burst into flames from the impact, killing him instantly. Gueguen's co-drivers, Pascal Laudenot and Vincent Bauden, were able to escape from the wreckage, while Gueguen, who was driving at the moment of the accident, died. 16  Jean-Pierre Leduc 5 January 1997 Tambacounda, Mali Tambacounda—Kayes KTM MotorcycleFrench amateur rider Jean-Pierre Leduc, on his debut rally, fell off and was killed instantly, after riding for 247 km of the second-stage rally. 17  Daniel Vergnes 8 January 2002 Aleg, Mauritania Atâr—Tidjikja Toyota Land Cruiser AutomobileDuring the 11th stage, the Toyota, which was entered in the rally as back-up car, rolled off a treacherous stretch of desert road en route to the stage finish in Tidjikja, throwing out Vergnes, the mechanic of the Toyota Trophy team, and he died hours later. His three teammates, Briton Sheona Dorson-King, Belgium's Christophe Van Rief, and France's Benoît Agoyer, were all taken to hospital in Nouakchott. It is not known who was driving the car when the accident occurred. 18  Bruno Cauvy 11 January 2003 ?, Libya Zilla—Sarir Toyota Land Cruiser AutomobileDaniel Nebot's and Bruno Cauvy's Toyota rolled over at high speed  into the stage between Zilla and Sarir. The medical helicopter reached the overturned vehicle half an hour later; by then the co-driver Cauvy, who was on his debut rally, had died from his injuries; Nebot escaped with a few injuries. 19  José Manuel Pérez 6 January 2005 Zouérat—Tichit KTM 660R MotorcyclePerez, in his fourth rally, sustained injuries to his stomach when he fell off his bike before the first checkpoint of the seventh stage from Zouérat to Tichit in Mauritania. He was immediately treated by the medical teams of the rally, who transferred him to the bivouac in Zouérat by helicopter. During an emergency procedure, he had his spleen, part of the liver and one kidney removed. He was later transferred to the Clinique du Cap in Dakar, Senegal, but his condition continued to worsen. He was airlifted to a hospital in Alicante, Spain, where he was put in intensive care and died a few hours later, three days after his accident. 20  Fabrizio Meoni 11 January 2005 Atâr—Kiffa KTM 660R MotorcycleMeoni, winner of the rally in 2001 and 2002, crashed a few minutes after the first checkpoint during the 11th stage rally, breaking his neck. A witness to the crash, fellow rider David Fretigne, signaled for medical attention. By the time a medical helicopter arrived, they were unable to revive him; his cause of death was heart failure. As grieving riders were unable to continue racing the next day, organisers cancelled the twelfth stage for all motorcyclists out of respect of Meoni. The rally was his 13th and was to be his last. He had held the lead until losing it on the previous leg to the eventual winner, Cyril Despres. 21  Andy Caldecott 9 January 2006 Ouassane, Mauritania Nouakchott—Kiffa KTM 660R Motorcycle Caldecott, standing in for injured Spaniard Jordi Duran to ride in the factory KTM team, was killed instantly when he crashed halfway through a stage between Nouakchott and Kiffa in Mauritania. His best finish was sixth in the previous year. 22  Elmer Symons 9 January 2007 Boumaine Dades, Morocco Er Rachidia—Ouarzazate KTM 660R MotorcycleSymons had participated in the 2005 and 2006 rally as a support mechanic and was making his debut as a rider. He crashed his privateer KTM and died at the scene 142 km into the fourth stage. The emergency helicopter arrived within eight minutes of his emergency alert beacon triggering, but was unable to do anything other than record his death. He was in 18th place for motorcycles overall, and led the Marathon class after the previous stage. Symons was the rally's 49th fatality. 23  Éric Aubijoux 20 January 2007 Dakar, Senegal Tambacounda—Dakar Yamaha 450WRF MotorcycleDuring the 14th and penultimate stage Tambacounda and Dakar, Aubijoux, in his sixth rally, suffered a massive heart attack about 15 km from the finish line at Dakar, Senegal. He fell and died on the spot. Initially it was thought that this was due to heart failure. Investigation found that the cause of death was the result of an accident. To add further confusion, his bike was revealed to be undamaged and he was believed to have pulled over feeling unwell and then collapsed due to a seizure. He never regained consciousness and died at the scene. He was declared 18th position overall. It was later suggested that Aubijoux died of internal injuries sustained in a crash earlier that day while competing in the 14th stage of the race. 24  Pascal Terry 4 January 2009 Cuchillo Cò, La Pampa, Argentina Santa Rosa de la Pampa—Puerto Madryn Yamaha 450WRF MotorcycleAt the second stage of the rally, Terry, in his debut rally, ran out of fuel and sent out an emergency signal to organisers. It was believed that the organisers were misinformed that Terry had reported back to the Dakar caravan at the end of the stage, therefore the search was abandoned, but it turned out to be his brother, also a competitor, who was in the camp. Terry was missing for three days; he was found dead fifty metres from his motorcycle. His cause of death was pulmonary edema, and it was believed that he likely died late Sunday evening or early Monday morning and that his life could have been saved had the search operation begun promptly. 25  Jorge Andrés Martínez Boero 1 January 2012 Mar del Plata, Argentina Mar del Plata-Santa Rosa de la Pampa Beta RR 450 Modele 2011 Motorcycle He died following a crash on the opening day. 26  Thomas Bourgin 11 January 2013 Andes, Chile Calama-Salta KTM MotorcycleBourgin was killed in a road accident with a Chilean police car while travelling to the start of the day's stage. 27  Eric Palante 10 January 2014 Northern Argentina Chilecito-Salta Honda MotorcycleOfficials found Palante's body after he failed to finish the stage. 28  Michał Hernik 6 January 2015 Argentina San Juan-Chilecito KTM MotorcycleOfficials found Hernik's body after he failed to finish the stage. 29  Paulo Gonçalves 12 January 2020 Saudi Arabia Riyadh-Wadi Al-Dawasir Hero Motorcycle A helicopter was sent to the scene where medics found Gonçalves unconscious, having gone into cardiac arrest. He was airlifted to Layla Hospital where he was pronounced dead. After consultation with the riders, the organizers decided to cancel the next stage for bikes and quads. 30  Edwin Straver 24 January 2020 Saudi Arabia Shubaytah-Haradh KTM Motorcycle After a low-speed crash in the 11th stage on 16 January 2020, Straver was resuscitated at the scene. It took emergency workers 10 minutes to get his heart beating again. He was rushed to a hospital in Riyadh, where examination showed that he had broken one of his upper neck vertebrae. After being in critical condition for over a week, Edwin was taken off assisted respiration and died on 24 January. 31  Pierre Cherpin 14 January 2021 Saudi Arabia Ha'il-Sakaka Husqvarna Motorcycle Cherpin crashed 178 km into the 7th stage on 11 January. He was airlifted to hospital in Sakaka where he was diagnosed with severe head trauma and placed in an induced coma following emergency neurosurgery. He was then transferred to a hospital in Jeddah, and from there was transferred to Lille. Cherpin died from his injuries mid-flight en route to Lille on 14 January. 32  Quentin Lavallée 14 January 2022 Saudi Arabia Bisha-Jeddah ? Automobile Lavallée, the chief mechanic for the PH-Sport team in the Classics class, was driving an assistance car when he collided with a local truck roughly 234 km into the liaison for the final stage of the rally. Lavallée was killed at the scene, aged 20.His passenger, Belgian Maxime Frère, was injured, but remained conscious and was transported to hospital. 33  Carles Falcón 15 January 2024 Saudi Arabia Al Henakiyah - Ad Dawadimi KTM Motorcycle Near the end of Stage 2 on 7 January, Falcón suffered a severe crash and was initially found without a pulse before being airlifted to Al Duwadimi hospital. Falcón suffered a cerebral oedema due to the fracture of the C2 vertebra, as well as a fractures to five ribs, the left wrist and the collarbone. Falcón died from his injuries eight days later.
List of fatal accidents involving non-competitors  No Name Date Place Stage Vehicle Type 1  Andrea Carisi 6 January 1981 In Salah, Algeria — Fiat Campagnola Automobile 2  Giuseppe De Tommaso 3  Franco DruettaDuring a displacement stage, a support Fiat Campagnola following the 1981 Paris-Dakar, went off the road and rolled several times, killing all three Italian occupants. 4  Ursula Zentsch January ? 1982 Markala, Mali Temaouine—Gao Mercedes-Benz TruckJournalist 5  Unknown January ? 1982 Mali — n/a n/aPasser-by 6  Unknown January ? 1984 Upper Volta — n/a n/aSpectator 7  Unknown January ? 1985 Niger — n/a n/aSpectator 8  Philippe Beau January ? 1985 ?, Mauritania Tichit—Kiffa HelicopterPilot 9  François-Xavier Bagnoud 14 January 1986 Gourma Rharous, Mali Niamey—Gourma Eurocopter Ecureuil Helicopter 10  Jean-Paul Lefur 11  Nathalie Odent 12  Thierry Sabine 13  Daniel BalavoineThe helicopter crashed into a dune during a sudden sand-storm. The accident took the life of the founder and organizer of the Dakar, Thierry Sabine, and four other persons: a well-known French pop singer Daniel Balavoine, the journalist Nathalie Odent, a radio engineer Jean-Paul Lefur and the helicopter pilot François-Xavier Bagnoud. 14  Henri Mouren January 1987 Kiffa, Mauritania Tidjikja—Atar AutomobileSupport crew 15  Baye Sibi 18 January 1988 Kitta, Mali Bamako—Kayes n/a n/aPedestrian 16  Unknown 21 January 1988 Mauritania Nouakchott—Richard Toll n/a n/a 17  UnknownSpectator 18  Unknown 22 January 1988 Dakar, Senegal Richard Toll—Dakar n/a n/aSpectator 19  Kaj Salminen 9 January 1990 Markala, Mali Tidjika—Kayes AutomobileFinnish journalist Kaj Salminen was killed when the service-car he was driving crashed into a parked tractor during the 16th stage. 20  Unknown 2 January 1992 Rig Rig, Chad N'Djamena—Sarh n/a n/a 21  UnknownSpectators 22  Tomás Urpí 1 January 1996 Oujda—Er Rachidia AutomobileSpectator 23  Unknown 12 January 1996 Ecker, Algeria Kayes—Labé n/a n/aPedestrian 24  Unknown 12 January 1998 Nouakchott, Mauritania Displacement n/a n/a 25  Unknown 26  Unknown 27  Unknown 28  UnknownFrench team Francis Bouney and Guy Aliphat crashed their Toyota 11TJ80 into a minibus during their displacement stage. 29  Unknown 8 January, 1999 Burkina Faso Nioro—Bobo-Dioulasso n/a AutomobileFrench competitor Henri De Roissard lost control of his Nissan Terrano and crashed into a vehicle of the Burkina Faso gendarmerie. The policeman who was at the wheel died several hours later. 30  Unknown 28 December 2001 Châteauroux—Narbonne n/a AutomobileDuring the 2nd stage, a French citizen crashed into an assistance car from the rally. 31  Unknown 11 January 2005 Châteauroux—Narbonne n/a AutomobileDuring the displacement stage of the assistance trucks to the finish-line in Senegal territory about 160 km from Dakar, a five-year-old Senegalese girl ran onto the main road in the path of a service lorry, where she was crushed beneath its wheels. 32  Boubacar Diallo 12 January 2006 Kourahoye, Labé, Guinea Labé—Tambacounda n/a n/aDiallo, a 10-year-old boy from the Guinean village of Kourahoye, was watching the rally with his parents when he was struck by a competitor's car when he attempted to cross the road. He was being transported by helicopter to Labé when he died. 33  Mohamed N'Daw 14 January 2006 Kaffrine, Senegal Tambacounda—Dakar n/a n/aN'Daw was hit by a rally car driven by Maris Saukans of Latvia in the late morning on the RN1 road at the 200 km point of the penultimate stage between Tambacounda and Dakar. He was twelve years of age, Saukans later withdrew from the rally. Rally organisers decided that the final round would not be timed due to the incidents in the final few days that marred the rally. 34  Roberto de la Cruz Vera Hernández 9 January 2009 Pejerreyes, Ovalle, Chile displacement n/a Automobile 35  Freddy Arucutipa TorresDuring a displacement stage, a non-competing support truck of Argentinean Marcelo Fabián Sánchez, carrying tyres for the competitors, lost control and struck a car head-on at route D-43 which joins La Serena and Ovalle, killing two of its passengers instantly. The other two occupants of the car were taken to a hospital in Ovalle for treatment. Sánchez was detained for further questioning. 36  Natalia Sonia Gallardo 2 January 2010 Río Cuarto, Argentina Colón—Córdoba n/a n/a During the first stage of the rally, 28-year-old Natalia Gallardo was killed after she and a group of spectators were involved in an accident with the Desert Warrior 4×4 of Mirco Schultis and Ulrich Leardi, which had veered off course near the town of Río Cuarto, some  from Buenos Aires. Four other fans were injured, two of whom were transferred to Córdoba for further treatment. 37  Marcelo Reales 13 January 2011 Catamarca, Argentina Chilecito-San Juán Toyota Hilux Car In stage 11, Eduardo Amor's Toyota Hilux went out-of-control and crashed with 42-year-old Marcelo Reales's car. 38  Luis SoldaviniJanuary 2, 2012Orense, ArgentinaSanta Rosa-San Rafaeln/aLight plane 39 Tomás Soldavini In stage 2, their aircraft crashed while they were watching the race from the air. Luis was 37 and his son 11 years old. 40  Unknown 11 January 2013 Tacna, PeruTaxiAutomobile 41 Unknown Two Peruvian spectators were killed in a head-on collision road traffic accident between a Land Rover Defender support team vehicle and two taxis. 42  Agustín Ignacio Mina 10 January 2014 Northern ArgentinaAutomobile 43   Daniel Eduardo Ambrosio Mina, a motorsports journalist, along with Ambrosio, died when their vehicle overturned. 44  Máximo Riso 9 January 2016 near Uyuni, Bolivia - n/a Automobile A 65-year-old Bolivian spectator was killed after he was hit by a Mitsubishi vehicle driven by Frenchman Lionel Baud. The incident took place on the 82nd km of the Uyuni – Salta stage. 45  Unknown 12 January 2016 Córdoba, Argentina - n/a AutomobileAn Argentinian driver was killed in a traffic accident involving Lionel Baud's assistance vehicle. Baud's car was being transported to Buenos Aires in order to be shipped off to Europe after his retirement due to the fatal accident of a Bolivian spectator three days before. 46  Livio Sassinotti 10 January 2023 Saudi Arabia Riyadh–Haradh n/a ?During stage 9 of the 2023 rally, 69-year-old Livio Sassinotti was photographing behind a sand dune when truck driver Aleš Loprais collided with him. The spectator was evacuated by helicopter, but died before reaching a hospital. Loprais withdrew from the race after being informed of the news.
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