The number of cyclist fatalities when a group ride was hit from behind by a driver already being sought by the police has made the crash national news in the US.
Police in the United States are investigating a collision in which a pick-up truck hit a group of cyclists on a training ride, killing five of them.
Four other victims have been hospitalised, some of them gravely ill.
The crash occurred in Michigan on Tuesday evening local time when the pick-up hit the riders near Cooper Township, Kalamazoo.
In the 30 minutes before the collision, just after 6.30pm, the local police had received several complaints about how the vehicle was being driven and was searching for it when the fatal crash occurred.
Witnesses are quoted in the local media saying the Chevrolet pick-up truck involved in the collision was seen being driven erratically just before the impact.
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One witness Markus Eberhard said he was leaving Markin Glen Park where he had been fishing when somebody shouted a warning to him to look out for the pick-up. He added the vehicle almost ran over his foot.
Before he had a chance to shout out a warning to the group of cyclists, the pick-up had hit them from behind.
“I saw a bunch of bikes hit the front of his truck and a couple of them flew,” he said.
“All I heard was a pop and a really big crash noise,” another witness Arika Kruger added.
The damage to the vehicle disabled it and when the driver was unable to continue in the pick-up he got out and tried to flee on foot but was arrested by the local police a short distance away.
The five cyclists who died were killed instantly and were pronounced dead at the scene. The crash is one of the worst in the US involving cyclists.
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