Four people lost their lives in a road accident, Saturday October 12, 2024, around 10:30 p.m., on the Celles-sur-Belle ring road. All were in an electric car, a Tesla, which burst into flames during the accident.
Among the victims were three young people aged 16, 21 and 25, all employees of the L’Argentière restaurant in Melle where the team was wiped out. Young people living in Deux-Sèvres, in Faye-sur-Ardin and Marcillé, and in Vienne, in Saint-Genest-d’Ambière.
“They left at the end of the service to go for a walk”
“It’s a disaster, we’re lost… I see their cars in the parking lot…, testifies the day after the tragedy, Daniel Mautret, the owner of the restaurant, inconsolable. It had been twenty minutes since they had debauched. They left after the end of the service to go for a ride with a customer friend who has an electric car. » A 65-year-old man who lives in Niort.
The car was found on fire, 200 m after hitting a sign.
© (Photo cor. NR, Alain Rinaud)
Among the three young people, there was “a little apprentice hired on 1is September, the new chef who had been there for two years but who had spent four years with us and a young pastry chef hired two weeks ago. All from here. What pearls! It was a pleasure to work with them…” The boss was at the restaurant Sunday morning waiting for news from the families.
In such circumstances, the activity of the restaurant, closed, seemed very secondary. “We don’t know how we’re going to do it. We don’t have the courage to have people over for a party. I haven’t even had the strength to call people yet…”, said Daniel Mautret shortly before 10 a.m.
Given his condition, “very shocked”the gendarmes planned to interview him later.
Initial findings suggest that the vehicle bit the shoulder then hit a sign before stopping 200 m further where it was found on fire.
© Photo cor. NR, Alain Rinaud
“When I arrived, the car was on fire”
One of the deputies of the mayor of Celles-sur-Belle went to the scene around midnight. “When I arrived, the car was on fire. There were police and fire engines everywhere. It was on the ring road, just after the Périgné bridge. They were going from Niort towards Melle. It seems they hit the embankment”indicated Frédéric Berthonneau.
“At this location, I believe it is the first time that there has been an accident of this type. It’s very wide”observed the elected official, touched by this dramatic accident, thinking of the families and the entire bereaved restaurant team.
Four charred bodies
It was a motorist taking the Celles-sur-Belle ring road who raised the alarm around 10:30 p.m. Fourteen firefighters and ten police officers immediately intervened. “Four completely charred bodies were discovered inside the vehicle”indicates the gendarmerie.
An investigation is open.
© Photo Cor. NR, Alain Rinaud.
An investigation carried out by the Sauzé-Vaussais community of brigades will attempt to determine the circumstances of the accident, knowing that“there are no eyewitnesses”. Initial findings suggest that the Tesla bit the shoulder then hit a directional sign before stopping 200 m further where it was found on fire.
Autopsies and examination of the car
The four bodies were immediately taken to the Poitiers forensic institute because “an autopsy was requested by the prosecution”. In particular to be able to formally identify the four victims by DNA comparison and carry out toxicological analyses.
Furthermore, the completely charred car was placed under seal, a legal expertise having been requested by the prosecution, in particular to determine whether there was a technical failure or whether the fire was the result of the impact.
