A man on a snowmobile purposely drove into two dog teams competing in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race early Saturday morning, killing one dog and injuring at least three others, officials said.
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Spokeswoman Megan Peters says the snowmobiler first hit the side of a sled driven by 46-year-old Aliy Zirkle (AL-ee ZUR-cul) between Koyukuk (KOY’-yoo-kuk) and Nulato.
The snowmobile reappeared 12 miles out of Nulato.
Aliy Zirkle was racing just outside of Nulato, Alaska when a snowmobile driver attempted to run her over, according to a press release from the Iditarod Trail Committee.
One dog was killed and at least three were injured.
He planned to add the two-hour penalty to his eight-hour mandatory rest on the Yukon River in hopes of building a speedier team for later in the race.
The harrowing scene was reported to officials and police upon arrival in Nulato and is now being investigated. King reported that he was not injured. Officials described the injury as non-life-threatening.
This incident resulted in the death of Nash, a three-year-old male. Crosby, another 3-year-old male, and Banjo, a 2-year-old male, received injuries and are expected to survive. King requested and received medical attention at the checkpoint.
“One of my dogs was killed pretty much on the spot, and a couple others I gave first aid to the best I could and loaded them into my sled”, he told the Iditarod camera crew.
King says one dog was killed almost instantly.
The race leader early Saturday afternoon was Brent Sass, who left the village of Kaltag at 8:20 a.m. He left Nulato at 7:14 a.m.
Musher Jason Campeau of Rocky Mountain House, Alberta, who was runner-up to Schroeder in this year’s Beargrease, was running in 27th place early Saturday; he reached Galena at 3:26 a.m.
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Reigning champ Dallas Seavey, the son of Mitch Seavey, was in fourth place.
