One dead, two hurt in fiery Ferrari crash in suburban Beijing
Fatal accident near airport draws comparisons to 2012 controversial crash involving son of Hu Jintao aide
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 13 February, 2014, 3:49pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 13 February, 2014, 4:54pm
Li Jing [email protected]
A photo taken by a witness shows part of the wrecked Ferrari.
A red Ferrari slammed into road guardrails and went up in flames on Thursday morning in northeast Beijing, leaving one passenger dead and another injured, while the driver left the scene with a minor injury, newspapers reported.
The crash happened at around 3am on a highway near the Beijing Capital International Airport located in the suburb of Shunyi, according to two Beijing newspapers who cited witnesses.
The Beijing Evening News reported that the 21-year-old driver of the Ferrari 458 series emerged with a broken arm.
The other injured passenger was rushed to hospital for treatment. There was no information about the identities of the riders.
A photo taken by witnesses show debris strewn on the road.
Police are investigating the cause of the accident.
Photos of the crash site and the charred debris from the luxury vehicle went viral on Sina Weibo, with many users speculating that the driver might have been speeding above the limit.
The photos showed pieces of wreckage strewn on the side of the road and only part of the chassis and a wheel remaining recognisable.
A photo taken by a witness shows debris strewn on the road. Sina Weibo users speculated that the driver was speeding.
The last high-profile Ferrari crash in the capital was in March 2012, involving a car of a similar make to that in Thursday's crash.
On March 18, rescuers pulled from a wrecked 458 Spider the half-naked body of Ling Gu, the 23-year-old son of Ling Jihua, a top aide to former Chinese president Hu Jintao.
Two young women – one naked and the other semi-clothed – who were with him in the car were seriously injured. They were identified as the daughters of prominent political and religious leaders.
There were reports that officials tried to cover up the accident, which involved a US$1 million car and “second-generation rich” victims at a time when the government was cracking down on official excess.
