Five dead and a vehicle involved, it is one of the worst road accidents to occur in Gaillac, in Tarn. This Sunday, November 17, a few hours after the tragedy, the city woke up with concern.
Four victims, burned in the vehicle fire, must be identified in the coming days, after the autopsy bodies. The fifth, ejected during the collision with the plane tree, could be identified. According to emergency services, it is a man aged around twenty. A manslaughter investigation is in progress.
The anxiety of loved ones
Daniel is a trader in the center of Gaillac. He has a 17-year-old daughter, he spent this Sunday morning on the phone. “I contacted her friends who were going out last night and the families reassured us, everyone returned home last night. Obviously, we have children of the same age, that always worries us.”
For him, the RD 988, between Lisle-sur-Tarn and Gaillac, presents only one danger: these massive plane trees who frame it. “It's not the number of accidents that makes it dangerous, but unfortunately when there are accidents, they are often fatal, because of the speed you can take on these straight lines.“And radar installed about a hundred meters from the accident flashes at 70 km/h.
In this small grocery store de Gaillac, the regulars fear that the victims are familiar faces. The couple of grocers remember the scene over and over again. The day before the accident, Saturday evening, a little before 10 p.m., a group of young people came to their home to go shopping. Enough to party but nothing excessive, a bottle of alcohol at most according to the managers.
Gathered behind the cash register, staff and customers watch images of the video surveillance camera. We see the small group of customers joking with the managers. In these images, a teenager claims to recognize one of the potential victims of the accident. Aged around twenty, this young man – who was not found after the terrible night – is described as “smiling” and “adorable” by the store managers.
The mayor of Gaillac met families
The victims could therefore be local young people. This Sunday evening, the town hall of Gaillac confirms that certain young people from residential area to the north of the city are wanted by their families, as well as a young person from the neighboring town of Brens. For the moment, the bodies have not been formally identified but the mayor of Gaillac, Martine Souquet, met Sunday afternoon with families worried about not seeing their children return.
The grocers did not wish to testify because they were very affected by this tragedy. Their business is one of the landmarks of these young Gaillac residents, who come there to get news, to tell their love stories and their worries. And it is also in this grocery store that some young people, devastated after the accident, came to seek a little comfort this weekend. The young people present in the store this Sunday planned to organize a gathering in the afternoon in the Viars district, in tribute to the victims.
