Truck Hits Group of 20 Cyclists in Nevada, Killing five

Five people have been killed and four others injured after a truck ploughed into a group of 20 cyclists in Nevada.

The crash occurred on Thursday morning on an open stretch of the U.S. 95 south of Boulder City, according to Nevada Highway Patrol.

The cycling group were on a ride together to celebrate one member’s retirement.

NHP spokesman Jason Buratczuk told the Reno Gazette Journal: “It doesn’t appear to be impairment. It appears to be a tragic accident.”

According to Buratczuk, the group had an escort vehicle traveling behind them, with lights flashing.

However, several members of the group fell behind the vehicle to shield themselves from strong winds that had picked up.

That’s when the truck crossed into the bike lane — for reasons as yet unknown.

The box truck smashed through the back of the group and into the escort car.

Four men and one woman were killed at the scene. Four more people, including the driver of the escort vehicle, were injured and rushed to hospital, one of them by helicopter in critical condition.

The truck driver was not injured, and remained at the scene as police investigated.

Clay Weeks, an employee at Pro Cyclery bike shop, told the publication the close-knit and very experienced group were very familiar with the route, having rode it many times together before, and that the stretch of road posed no obvious dangers.

“That shoulder on the side of that highway is wide enough to fit three cars,” he said. “We don’t really know how somebody managed to get that far off the road. These were all very very experienced cyclists. It’s not like they accidentally rode off and into the road.”

“These are people who ride 10,000 miles a year. Some race professionally,” Weeks said. “How did something like this mistakenly happen?”