Dakar Rally shaken by violent double crash

A Canadian Dakar Rally driver remains in hospital after a spectacular double-crash in the gruelling race across South America.

Matt Campbell was racing at 170km/h in a remote Bolivian desert when the nose of his car plunged into what his team thought was a shallow stream.

The force of the impact triggered a violent end-to-end rollover which climaxed with their El Martillo Racing vehicle bursting into a ball of flames.

While their crash has been described as one of the most extraordinary ever seen it the notorious event, even more remarkable was the fact that none of the three people on board was seriously injured, nor those on board another vehicle which crashed at the same spot seconds earlier.

Argentine driver Juan Manuel 'Pato' Silva and navigator Juan Pablo Sisterna were the first to misjudge the water crossing and were surrounded by worried spectators when the vehicle being driven by Campbell flipped violently passed them.

“It’s only by the grace of God they’re still alive,” said Judi Palmai, Campbell’s executive assistant in Calgary.

This year’s Dakar Raly is being raced over 9000 kilometers.