A car drove into the crowd that had gathered to attend the collection of Gilles, Sunday around 05:00 in Strépy-Bracquegnies. A first assessment reports 4 dead, 12 seriously injured and around twenty lighter injuries, according to the mayor of La Louvière Jacques Gobert.
Horror and dread this morning at the carnival of Strépy-Bracquegnies. Out of nowhere, a car drove into the crowd that had gathered to watch the Gilles pick up. According to our latest information, a provisional report shows 4 dead (and not 5, as announced earlier), 12 seriously injured and 20 slightly injured.
The circumstances of this tragedy are still unknown. A suspect has been arrested, informs the mayor Jacques Gobert who speaks of “catastrophe”: “There are no words, it’s horror. Having arrived there some time after the disaster, seeing these bodies scattered on the road, the people who are in pain… You can’t imagine that it could exist and unfortunately, this is what takes place… There are no words, it is dramatic.”
What happened?
It was around 5 a.m. when a car appeared on rue des Canadiens. Emergency services are still on site. There were a total of 8 ambulances. The communal emergency plan was triggered by the mayor. A psychological cell was opened. “We have made the municipal sports hall available to families and the victim assistance service has also been activated”, specifies Jacques Gobert. A press point will be organized in the morning.
Bel RTL host Fabrice Collignon took part in this carnival. He recounts what he witnessed: “We were picking up the Gilles, we were going from house to house. We were on a long straight line and there were more or less 150 people. We heard a huge noise coming from behind the company and the car. literally walked into the group of people. It’s a scene I never thought I’d see in my life. The car sped up and by the time I realized something was happening, everyone was by land. People were screaming. There was music and smiles and 3 seconds later, it was screaming. It was horrible”.
More information to come