Tragedy strikes Dakar Rally

By John Hopkins

The 30th edition of the Dakar Rally has been hit by tragedy, with reports that a 49-year-old motorcycle rider was found dead on Wednesday morning.

According to an article on the Eurosport website, the body of Frenchman Pascal Terry was discovered about 100m off the road. He had been missing since the start of Sunday's second stage, and his body was found 190km south of where he had started in Santa Rosa, Argentina.

"He was in a place very hard to access in the middle of heavy bushes, some 15 metres from his bike," race organizers were quoted as saying on the Eurosport site. "He had his helmet off and had found some shadow."

According to the Eurosport story, Terry had radioed on Sunday to report he was out of fuel but later reported he had got some from another competitor. Later in the day he sent an emergency signal, but a search was interrupted when organizer were told, incorrectly, that he had arrived at the finish of Tuesday's fourth stage.