Two vehicles on fire side by side, burning on two lanes of the highway closed to traffic: the scene is not ordinary.
It occurred during the night from Saturday to Sunday on the A8, near La Trinité, after a collision which left five people injured.
Here is what we know about this very spectacular accident.
Damage involved
It’s 1:15 a.m. this Sunday. Several vehicles have just passed the Turbie toll, on the northern carriageway of the A8 (direction Italy-France). It was then that the accident occurred.
According to the first elements collected by the gendarmes, a Volkswagen suffered mechanical damage. She would have lost a wheel or suffered a puncture.
The car then overturned and rolled several times. A Porsche coming after her hit her from behind. Two other vehicles were involved, potentially due to debris strewn on the roadway.
Slightly injured
The Volkswagen and the Porsche then burst into flames, in circumstances that will have to be clarified by the investigation. Their occupants were all able to escape from the passenger compartment in time.
Five occupants of three vehicles were nevertheless injured and treated by firefighters and SMUR (mobile emergency and resuscitation service).
The 27-year-old driver of the Volkswagen was taken to the Saint-Georges clinic in Nice. Ditto for the driver of a third vehicle, aged 43. And three young adults were injured on board the Porsche.
Two men aged 19 were evacuated to Pasteur 2 hospital. The driver, aged 18, was more seriously injured in the elbow, potentially fractured. He joined the same hospital.
Several hours at a complete standstill
In the meantime, traffic is completely interrupted on the northern carriageway of the A8. Time to take care of the injured and clear the road. Debris spread over nearly five hundred meters.
Consequence: many users find themselves stuck in traffic jams in the middle of the night, at the Turbie tollbooth.
The Turbie and Monaco access ramps are then closed. Users are invited to exit at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin. A partial reopening will be authorized around 3:15 a.m. Before a complete reopening an hour later.
No alcohol or drugs
This intervention will have led to a significant concentration of resources on the A8. 34 firefighters intervened with 11 engines, alongside the Nice SMUR.
The gendarmes from the Saint-Isidore motorway platoon carried out the findings and regulated traffic, alongside the Vinci Autoroutes teams.
These same soldiers are in charge of the investigation. They will seek to establish the origin of the damage and these two vehicle fires. According to the departmental gendarmerie group, neither alcohol nor drugs are involved.
