Four people were on board the Audi: a retired couple from Orléans, and their grandchildren whom they were bringing back to their parents in Eymet. The SUV had just passed the entrance sign into the village when the accident occurred. According to the emergency services present, the grandfather was seated behind his wife, who was driving, while their granddaughter was seated in the front passenger seat. The little boy was behind his sister.
“One of our gendarmes was nearby when the accident took place”, explains the gendarmerie commander Gibiot. He therefore immediately alerted the emergency services as well as colleagues, and started a cardiac massage on the driver of the Peugeot 307. “I was not far behind, I saw the gendarme doing his cardiac massage for a long time”, testifies a man who arrived on the spot shortly after the accident. “Then when the firefighters arrived, very quickly, they put the sheets on the bodies, it was too late”. “The three people died in the arms of the gendarmes”, confirms the commander.
Le Tortoni tire le rideau
The D933 crosses the village. It connects Bergerac to Marmande. The road was blocked for more than three hours. The seriousness of the accident quickly became known. “Like many people, I walked past, I saw several fire trucks, the helicopter, I understood that it was serious”, testifies a resident, still haggard.
Some, who passed there, immediately had a doubt, seeing the blue 307. This is the case of the manager of the press tobacconist located at the exit of the village, who sums up the apprehension that seized him at the time: “The model, the color, and the yellow plate – old model, there Only one car like that circulates in Eymet…”
So when, shortly after the accident, the Tortoni drew the curtain, there was no longer any doubt. The car is indeed that of Chantal Chassagne. She had lived in the village for many years, and occasionally worked at the café. “She often came to buy the newspaper in the morning… A woman with a lot of energy”, remembers the shopkeeper.
“She worked for twenty years with me, she was a very good woman… She leaves a daughter, and a husband. Everyone is in shock, no one understands, ”summarizes a customer from the Aquitaine bistro. Chantal Chassagne had worked for him at the Beyne canneries.