Street car race crash kills seven near Washington

WASHINGTON, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Seven people were killed early on Saturday when a car plowed into roadside spectators watching a high-speed street race in a town near Washington, according to media reports.

The large sedan crashed into the crowd that had gathered to watch the race along a highway in Accokeek, Maryland, 20 miles (30 km) south of Washington, killing six of them, the Washington Post said.

A passenger in the car was also killed. The driver was one of four people injured in the crash, which occurred at around 3 a.m. EST (0800 GMT), the paper said.

"It was a very horrific scene with the number of individuals in the road at one time and the amount of debris," the Post quoted Cpl. Clinton Copeland of Prince George's County Police Department as saying.

Copeland said police were investigating the possibility that other drivers had been involved in the crash and fled the scene, and that it was too early to determine any criminal charges, the paper said. (Reporting by Mohammad Zargham, editing by Vicki Allen)