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MACAU: A Hong Kong racing driver died after his touring car slammed into a barrier and burst into flames—the second death in two days to rock the iconic Macau Grand Prix.

Organizers gave no details about the accident that killed Phillip Yau, 40, but footage screened on television showed his Chevrolet Cruze crashing at high speed and catching fire before rolling to a halt. Yau was cut from the wreckage but he died 40 minutes later in hospital. The tragedy comes after Portuguese motorbike racer Luis Carreira was killed in one of two serious accidents at the Chinese territory’s street circuit last week.

Officials said they would not cancel the weekend’s racing and defended their safety record. The multi- race event also suffered fatalities in 1994 and 2005, and a tourist was killed in 2000 when a car left the track.

“Unfortunately, it is not very pleasant to have two accidents in two days,” Macau Grand Prix committee coordinator Joao Manuel Costa Antunes told a press conference. “But every track has challenges and the track of Macau as a street circuit presents challenges that all the drivers have the opportunity to learn,” he said, adding that it has existed for 60 years and is approved every year by the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile ( FIA), the world governing body for motor sport.

Hong Kong media said Yau, who was driving in a qualifying session for the CTM Macau Touring Car Cup, lost control of his car and hit the barrier at more than 200kph. Organizers said Yau was an experienced Macau competitor who had won two races at the street track. Carreira was a seven- time entrant in the bike race and also a veteran of the tough Isle of Man TT event.