Three people were killed when their high-powered boat crashed in Venice while they were trying to set a new speed record — with a fourth crew member surviving after getting flung out at 92 mph, according to reports.
Italian businessman Fabio Buzzi, 76, led a crew trying to break his own record for racing from Monaco to Venice.
They had been racing for 18 hours and 32 minutes when the boat crashed into a man-made dam in the Venetian Lagoon on Tuesday night, according to the BBC.
Buzzi and two crew members died — while a fourth was flung overboard and managed to survive, according to local fire officials.
He was identified as Mario Invernizzi and was being treated in a local hospital, according to the BBC, which offered no details on the severity of his injuries.
The two who died alongside Buzzi were an Italian, Luca Nicolini, and a Dutch mechanic who has not been identified, officials told the BBC.
The deadly crash happened as they were going 92 mph and were on target to beat Buzzi’s previous record of 22 hours, 5 minutes, 42 seconds, set in 2016, according to reports.
The businessman, who was racing a boat from his own company, FB Design Group, had won 10 world championships since he began his racing career over 40 years ago. In 1978, he set the world speed record for diesel-powered boats, hitting 119 mph, the BBC noted.
“A serious mourning has come across Italian sport and the whole powerboat community,” said Afreddo Malcarne, president of race organizer Assonautica Italiana, according to Motorboat & Yachting.
Venice’s mayor called the crash “inexplicable” and said local authorities were investigating, according to the boating site.
“With regret, nothing remains but to offer our condolences to the families of the victims,” he said.
With Post wires