The 1953 running was the bloodiest year of the Carrera Panamericana. In addition to Bonetto's death- 8 other people were killed in unrelated accidents, including an incident where 6 spectators were mowed down by a flipping car. On the first stage between the cities of Tuxtla Gutiérrez and Oaxaca, American Bob Christie, with his mechanic Kenneth Wood, failed to make a left turn, and his Ford went off the road backwards, plunged over the embankment on the side and came to a cushioned but smashing stop upside down in the mud of the river bank, below the level of the highway. Christie unfastened his belts and helped "K" to reach the bank. A fairly large crowd of spectators who watched the race at this point, had hastily assembled on a ledge below the road to find a better view of the accident; many people swarmed to Christie’s and Wood’s aid immediately, and were relieved to find out that both were uninjured. But then, Mickey Thompson, a Bonneville Salt Flats record holder, crashed at the same place, and 6 people who were standing at a place to get a better view of Christie's accident were killed by Thompson's Ford, whose brakes had jammed, sending him straight into the embankment where the people were standing. In addition to this horrific tragedy, Italians Antonio Stagnoli and his co-driver Giuseppe Scotuzzi in a Ferrari 375 MM lost their lives, when a blown tyre caused them crashing in the small town of Juchitán de Zaragoza on that same first stage between Tuxtla Guitierrez and Oaxaca. Of the 9 fatalities in this running of this most famous Mexican road races, 8 of them were on the same stage on the same day, with the exception of Bonetto's accident, which happened on the fourth stage.