Canadian GP worker killed in crane accident

A 38-year-old marshal at the Canadian Grand Prix was killed Sunday in an accident involving a crane after the end of the Formula One race, organizers and the International Automobile Federation said.

The accident occurred as workers attempted to remove the Sauber driven by Esteban Gutierrez, who had been forced to abandon the race.

As workers used a mobile crane to lift the vehicle and return it to the pits, one worker, who was not immediately identified by officials, dropped his radio and attempted to pick it up.

The man stumbled and was hit and run over by the recovery vehicle, whose driver couldn't see him, the FIA said in a statement posted on its website.

He was stabilized by race track medical personnel and airlifted to hospital, but succumbed to his injuries.

"The FIA is sad to announce the death of a Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada circuit worker, at 6:02 pm (22:02 GMT)," the FIA said, adding that the marshal was treated at Sacre-Coeur Hospital by the trauma department of Dr Ronald Denis, Deputy Chief Medical Officer and Dr Jacques Bouchard, Chief Medical Officer of the Grand Prix.

"Unfortunately, the worker succumbed to his injuries at the hospital," the FIA said.

Bouchard told Radio-Canada that the victim "suffered major trauma with multiple fractures and a serious abdominal contusion.

"Despite all efforts to revive him, he could not be saved," Bouchard said.

Canadian Grand Prix promoter Francois Dumontier said he was "devastated" by the death.

The worker was the third marshal to be killed working at a Formula One race since 2000.

At the Italian Grand Prix in Monza in 2000, volunteer firefighter Paolo Ghislimberti died from head and chest injuries after being struck by a loose wheel from Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Jordan in the wake of first-lap crash.

At the 2001 Australian Grand Prix, marshal Graham Beveridge was fatally injured when he was struck by a wheel from Jacques Villeneuve's BAR-Honda that flown through a gap in the safety fence.

Red Bull Racing, whose driver Sebastian Vettel won the race ahead of Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, offered condolences via Twitter.

"We send our deepest condolences to the family of the marshall who tragically lost his life today," the team said, while Alonso said on the social networking site that the death was "terrible news".

"Today there is nothing to celebrate," the Ferrari driver tweeted.