Dutch motorcycle racer Edwin Straver dies after fall in Dakar rally

Dutch motorcycle racer Edwin Straver died during the early hours of Friday morning, succumbing to injuries sustained in a fall in the Dakar Rally last week. The 48-year-old racer was seriously injured on January 16th, when he fell in the 11th and penultimate stage of the race, NOS reports.

Straver was resuscitated at the scene. It took emergency workers 10 minutes to get his heart beating again. He was rushed to a hospital in Riyadh, where examination showed that he had broken one of his upper neck vertebrae. He succumbed to his injuries earlier this morning.

This was Staver's third Dakar Rally. Last year he finished 30th in the general classification, and 49th the year before.

Straver is not the only life lost in the Dakar Rally this year. Portuguese motorcycle racer Paulo Gonçalves died on Sunday due to a cardiac arrest.