The A21 motorway was the scene of an impressive accident. Around fifteen vehicles collided on the evening of Saturday January 11, causing several minor injuries and causing an additional accident upstream. The highway had to be cut.
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Everything happened at kilometer point no. 8 on the A21 motorway towards Douai. Saturday January 11, around 9 p.m., 15 vehicles collided on the mining ring road after slipping on a road that was once again particularly slippery in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais.
25 firefighters were then dispatched to the scene, treating 26 people, including three who were slightly injured. They were transported to hospitals in Arras and Lens, as well as to the Hénin polyclinic.
The scale of the pileup was such that 5 km of the section of motorway were blocked in the Aix-Douai direction. But that didn’t prevent another accident. At kilometer point 7.5, two vehicles also collided, causing two additional minor injuries.
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A motorist filmed the A21 pileup from his vehicle on January 11, 2025.
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© Maxime Codron
This accident is the continuation of a particularly slippery weekend on the main roads of the Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Already on the morning of January 11, a phenomenon of “supercooled rain” had annihilated the effects of salting on the A25 and A26, transforming the roadway into an ice rink.
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It’s hitting the roads on January 11, 2025!
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©Sebastien Gurak / France Télévisions
► Read also: Weather alert: black ice paralyzes traffic on the A25 motorways in the Nord and A26 in Pas-de-Calais
The next day, although emergency services reported a return to normal on the roads, the roadway remained particularly slippery in places. As evidenced by this vehicle in a ditch in the Sailly sur la Lys sector (North).
A vehicle in the ditch, January 12, 2025 in the Sailly-sur-la-Lys sector (North).
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© Patrick Marlière
For the days to come, forecaster Patrick Marlière calls on motorists to exercise great caution in both departments.
Between January 12 and 14, “more severe frosts“are expected at night.”It will be between -5 and -6°C with freezing fog in the morning. The roads will remain slippery, you will have to be extra careful in almost the entire region“, he warns. And this, even on the coast.
To avoid skidding on the asphalt during episodes of black ice, motorists are recommended to reduce their speed, increase safety distances, anticipate braking and look carefully in the distance to identify the areas at risk. risks.
