Two reporters die in crash while covering Dakar Rally

“The dead are journalism student Agustin Mina, 20, and Daniel Ambrosio, 51, who loved auto racing,” magazine manager Francisco Delgado told AFP.

Although not officially accredited, the team was covering the 2014 rally — in which 431 vehicles are crossing Argentina, Bolivia and Chile for the auto, motorbike, quad and lorry events.

Also in the vehicle were 31-year-old Martin Delgado, the magazine manager’s son, and Rodrigo de Quesada, 36. Both men are photographers for the Super Rally magazine.

The survivors were taken to a hospital in Tucuman.

The group came from the central province of Cordoba, except for Quesada, who is Peruvian. The cause of the crash is not yet clear, Francisco Delgado said by telephone.

The car “fell 100 meters (330 feet) over a cliff and those in the front seat were killed instantly. The others were saved,” he said.

This is the 35th edition of the iconic Dakar Rally, which used to run from Paris to Dakar but has moved to Latin America in recent years.

The 13-stage race, with a single rest day, is 9,374 kilometers (5,825 miles) long for cars, with more than 5,500 kilometers of timed “special sections.”

– AFP