Two young drivers have been jailed over a “Fast & Furious” style race through the Chinese capital that ended in the destruction of two luxury sports cars.
Yu Muchun, 20, and Tang Wentian, 21, were jailed for four and five months respectively and fined a total of 18,000 yuan (US$2,900), Xinhua reports.
The pair were racing a Ferrari and Lamborghini through a tunnel in central Beijing when they crashed on 11 April.
A woman passenger in the Lamborghini suffered a fractured spine.
The two men are reported to have pleaded guilty to the charge of dangerous driving, and told the court they have no plans to appeal against their sentences.
“I made a mistake, had a bad influence on society, and hurt my family and friends,” Tang, who drove the Lamborghini, was quoted as saying.
The court heard the two cars were travelling at speeds of up to 179 km/h (111 mph) when they span out of control in the Datun Road tunnel, near the national stadium, running over a guardrail and hitting the tunnel walls.
The police at the time said the two men were in their 20s and unemployed, prompting speculation that they were the offspring of wealthy officials or business people.
This has since been denied by Tang’s family, who said their son had bought the Lamborghini after making a fortune in the stock market. Yu is reported to have said he borrowed the Ferrari.
The crash coincided with, and so was compared to, the latest Fast & Furious film, which features fast cars and high-value write-offs.
Source: BBC News