On this day in 1955

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1955: Le Mans disaster claims 77 lives
Seventy-seven people have been killed and 77 others injured when two cars collided on the race track and crashed into the spectators' stand at Le Mans in north-west France.

The Mercedes-Benz being driven by Pierre Levegh hit the bank by the grandstand and immediately exploded. Parts of the wreckage were blown into the enclosure, killing scores of mostly-French spectators.