A man in his twenties was the victim of a terrible accident this Sunday morning in Ypres, Flanders. According to information from Nieuwsblad, the motorist, who was driving a Renault Modus, unwound from his trajectory and found himself in the back of the trailer of a truck which was parked along the road.
The driver completely crashed into a forklift that was in the back of the truck. The images of the crash are very chilling.
The motorist remained trapped in the wreckage for 1h30. “The driver was seriously stuck for an hour and a half. He had fallen into a fetal position and was sitting with his feet and knees together at dashboard height. We had to take the necessary time and proceed step by step to avoid additional injuries, ”explains Dirk Vandekerckhove, captain of the Westhoek fire brigade, to our colleagues.
The victim was stuck in the vehicle for a very long time, while it was extremely cold outside. “Minus five degrees and a wind chill of minus eleven. During the procedure, we tried to cover him as much as possible and keep him warm. In the end, everything went well”, adds Vandekerckhove.
The victim is a 24 year old young man. He was taken to Jan Yperman Hospital, where he had to undergo emergency surgery. His injuries are serious but according to Arro Ieper police area, are stable for now. “For the same price, no forklift would have been on the truck, the car would have slipped under the trailer and it could have been a whole different story. The trolley prevented this and avoided a bigger shock”, adds Dirk Vandekerckhove.