This Sunday, a fatal accident took place on the E19 motorway near Schoten in the province of Antwerp. A coach was heading towards Breda in the Netherlands. He deviated from his trajectory and finished his race lying on his side.
The toll is very heavy: two people died and ten individuals were seriously injured. This Tuesday, the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office announced that the bus driver has been placed under an arrest warrant by the investigating judge. He also indicated that the driver was already known in France for drug-related offences. The saliva test carried out by the 35-year-old Frenchman after the accident came back positive. The prosecution also indicated that the analysis of the vehicle’s tachograph showed that the driving and rest times were respected.
It remains to be determined whether the driver was also under the influence of alcohol. “My client is still very impressed and in shock”said his lawyer Boris Reynaerts for Het Nieuwsblad. “He does not remember most of the events and suspects that he fell asleep. Further investigation will have to clarify what exactly happened on Sunday.”
The two victims of this terrible accident are a 29-year-old Colombian and a 17-year-old Frenchwoman. According to our colleagues, Andrés Felipe Rodríguez, the first city, had asked Ana Maria, his girlfriend, in marriage two days earlier in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The fiancée is one of the five victims who are still seriously injured in the accident. At the time of writing these lines, 13 people are still hospitalized.