France
Pierre Palmade would have been partying since the day before the accident
According to BFMTV, the comedian was with several young people in his country house. He would have taken his car with two of them to get food.
Updated
Pierre Palmade was in his house in Dammarie-les-Lys “in a context of heavy drug use” according to BFMTV.
AFP
The circumstances of dramatic accident which occurred Friday evening in Seine-et-Marne are becoming clearer, according to French media. Pierre Palmade collided head-on with a car in which was a pregnant woman, her brother-in-law and his 6-year-old son. She lost her seven-month-old baby and she and the other two crossings were seriously injured, as was Pierre Palmade. An 80-year-old man then crashed into the family car from the rear and was slightly injured.
Toxicological analyzes revealed that the 54-year-old comedian was cocaine positive, but not alcohol. According to information from BFM TV, Palmade “had been partying since the day before in his house in Dammarie-les-Lys with several young people and in a context of heavy drug use”. Friday around 7 p.m., he would have taken the wheel of his SUV, a Peugeot 3008, with several of his guests to get food. Witnesses say they saw two young people in the comedian’s car who fled after the accident. An investigation is underway to confirm the facts.
“I kept him awake as long as possible”
A witness who arrived on the scene just after the accident confirms having seen someone in the back of the Peugeot. He then got out of the car and then fell into the ditch, in a state of shock, he told the “Parisian“. He also reportedly saw another man standing, running in all directions as the injured woman asked where her child was. The people present believed that there was another child than the 6-year-old boy, but she was probably talking about her baby in her belly. These two men were no longer there when the firefighters arrived.
The witness recounts having seen large sparks in the night before arriving at the scene of the accident. “I prevented Mr. Palmade from being taken out of his car,” he explains. You never know, if he had internal bleeding… His eyes were open. He didn’t speak. I was shaking him so he wouldn’t fall asleep. I kept him awake as long as possible.”
Between 5 and 10 years in prison
An investigation has been opened for homicide and involuntary injuries. Pierre Palmade risks up to 5 years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros, or even 10 years and a fine of 150,000 euros if there are several aggravating circumstances, explains BFMTV. If the days of the comedian are no longer in danger, the vital prognosis of the three people present in the car he hit was still engaged on Saturday evening, according to a police source.
Relatives of Pierre Palmade “are thinking of the people affected during this accident and are waiting for reassuring news”, said his family, quoted by AFP.
No news from him for a week
According RTL, the comedian, who had already had problems with alcohol addiction and especially cocaine and had just moved to the countryside to get away from Parisian nights, would have plunged again 3 months ago. And for almost a week, he had given no sign of life. “It was always like this when he returned to a period of abuse” according to relatives. He would have missed several professional appointments recently.