Three spectators have died after a car driven by a 22-year-old racer veered off the road during an auto rally in France on Saturday, authorities said.

The driver of the modified Peugeot 208 and her 51-year-old female co-driver were taken to hospital but their lives were not in danger, prosecutors said.

The accident occurred near the town of Ambert in central France at about 11am on Saturday.

Two men died at the scene and prosecutors later announced that a third man had died after being airlifted to hospital.

The victims were two brothers, aged 70 and 60, and a 44-year-old man, according to the public prosecutor’s office, which opened an investigation into involuntary manslaughter.

Several people who witnessed the accident were in shock and nine people were taken to a psychological support unit set up in the nearby village of Saint-Just.

“This is a tragedy for the world of racing,” said Jöel Mathurin, a government official for the department of Puy-de-Dôme.

The road at the accident site is flanked by cornfields.

Several hours after the crash, pieces of plastic and glass fragments were visible near the scene, according to an AFP journalist.

Regional prosecutor Laure Moisset said the impact was “very violent”.

“Today, we have three families mourning the loss of loved ones in this accident,” she said.

When asked about the possibility that the victims were in an area closed to the public, Moisset said she preferred to “be cautious”.

“It is still a little too early to be precise,” she added. “The race was extremely well organised.”

Initially, the prefect had said the spectators hit by the car were in a restricted area marked off by red tape, despite the areas reserved for the public being marked with green tape.

In a short statement after the accident on Saturday, the rally organisers said the race was halted at 10.49am.

All spectators were asked to leave the scene and the event’s award ceremony was cancelled.

The investigation was “in its early stages”, the prosecutor said.

The road where the accident took place, almost a straight line according to the authorities, has been closed.