1 dead, 7 hurt after a car plows into a crowd at a Texas racetrack

By Joe Sutton, Tina Burnside and Hollie Silverman, CNN

One person died and seven others were injured after a car plowed into a crowd at a mud racing event in Texas on Sunday night.

Willie Valadez Ramirez, 21, was pronounced dead at a local hospital, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.

“Two victims remain in critical but stable condition, five sustained non-life-threatening injuries,” the news release said.

The crash happened in Fabens, Texas, about 40 miles southeast of El Paso and less than a mile from the Mexican border.

” … one of the vehicles due to unknown reasons left the mud-track striking and breaking through a guard rail,” the news release said.

The vehicle also struck three other vehicles in the initial crash, according to the release.

Roberto Tovar, who captured video of the moment the vehicle lost control and veered into the crowd, told CNN he was OK after the heart-stopping experience.

In his video, people can be heard screaming as the vehicle begins to fishtail and strike a cone before the video goes dark.

Another video of the immediate aftermath shows what appears to be a white pickup truck underneath spectator tents.

At least one person is seen on the ground while someone kneels next to them with chairs and a barrel-like barrier knocked over.

A few feet away, a green tractor-type vehicle and another unidentifiable vehicle appear to also have gone through some kind of barrier and are under blue spectator tents.

Authorities did not release any additional details on the incident, including the conditions of the drivers or identities of the victims.

CNN’s Alta Spells contributed to this report.