An off-duty Chilean navy petty officer drove his private car into a popular open-air market in the coastal city of Viña del Mar on Sunday morning, killing six people and injuring several others before being pulled from the wreckage by an angry crowd and arrested. The vehicle left the road and struck stallholders and shoppers at the Caupolicán fair around 8.40 a.m. local time, according to Carabineros officials.

Of the six dead, three were women and three were men, the presidential delegate for Valparaíso, Manuel Millones, told local media. Seven injured people were taken to the Dr. Gustavo Fricke hospital, including two minors; medical sources said none sustained life-threatening injuries. The driver, who was intercepted by bystanders attempting to attack him before police intervened, was tested for alcohol and returned a reading of 0.0 per cent, the prefect of Viña del Mar, Colonel Jorge Guaita, confirmed. The navy released a statement identifying the man as a serving member off duty and offering condolences.

Why the car left the road remains unclear. Witnesses told investigators the vehicle was travelling in the correct direction but at “excessive speed”, Guaita said. Some local outlets, citing initial police reports, speculated that rain-slicked roads or a mechanical failure might have contributed, but no official cause has been established. The driver told police he remembered nothing of the crash, the colonel added. While most Spanish-language media reported seven injured, A1 reported six; the discrepancy appears to stem from early counts at the scene.

The Caupolicán fair, held every Thursday and Sunday in the Gómez Carreño neighbourhood, draws hundreds of vendors and visitors. President José Antonio Kast wrote on social media that the tragedy “has plunged the entire country into mourning”. The navy said it would cooperate fully with the investigation and had opened an internal administrative process. As of Sunday evening, prosecutors and specialist Carabineros units were still examining the scene and taking witness statements to establish the precise sequence of events.