Two spectators have been killed and several others injured at a rally race in Ireland.
One of the cars competing in the Cavan Stages Rally is reported to have lost control as it went over a bump on the road and crashed into a fence outside a house where spectators were standing.
Spectator Matthew McMahon told RTE radio's This Week he saw the car go over the crest of a road before he heard a car skid.
"All hell broke loose basically with people crying, people white as ghosts as if something serious had happened" he said.
"I don't know if something broke on the car or if he just lost control,"
"Then I just heard people screaming and people shouting 'red flag, red flag, stop the stage'.
"And then someone mentioned somebody's been killed and we found out how serious it was."
Gardai said a man and a woman have been confirmed dead at the scene and a number of people have been rushed to hospital.
Their injuries and conditions are not known. Local resident, councillor Niamh Smyth, said the accident was devastating for the community.
"We have lost a lot of young lives in Bailieboro in the last 12 months and this tragedy puts a huge darkness over the community again," she said.
The accident happened at about 11.30am about a mile outside Bailieboro in Co Cavan.
"Emergency services are at the scene and the road remains closed," said a Garda spokesman.
The sport is governed by Motorsport Ireland but the event was being staged by Cavan Motor Club.
More than 100 cars were competing in the event, which had attracted thousands of spectators.
In a short statement, Co Cavan Motor Club Ltd confirmed an incident happened on the special stage of the Cavan Stages Rally.
"Emergency services are still in attendance at the scene and we are awaiting further information," a spokesman added.
The tragedy follows others which have devastated the sport in recent years.
Teenage rally fan Richard O'Donnell, from Strabane, was killed as he tried to cross a country road during the Donegal International Rally in 2008.
The 18-year-old was struck by a competing Ford Fiesta on the eleventh stage of the competition, which is one of the biggest sporting events in the country.
Two years ago co-driver Thomas Maguire died in a crash in the Donegal rally, and in 2002 two stewards were also killed in the event.