The cyclist hit by a motorist in Rouen is dead, the driver in police custody

Two of the cyclists were seriously injured. An investigation is open to find out whether it was an accident or a deliberate act.

Three women who were riding a bicycle were hit by a van on Tuesday January 14 in the morning in Rouen (Seine-Maritime), franceinfo and “ici Normandie” learned. One of them, seriously injured and with a life-threatening prognosis, finally died at midday.

The life prognosis of the other seriously injured cyclist is not in jeopardy. As for the third victim, she is more lightly injured, specifies the Rouen prosecutor.

The facts occurred around 9 a.m. Tuesday morning, rue Alsace-Lorraine in Rouen. This street in the hyper-center is two-way for buses but one-way in a single lane for cars and bicycles. The three injured people, three women according to firefighters, were transported to Rouen University Hospital. 14 firefighters were mobilized for the intervention. According to the prosecution, the vehicle hit one person, then, further on, two others, before continuing its journey out of Rouen.

The driver, aged 47, initially fled before finally being arrested around 10:15 a.m. by the gendarmes in front of the Buchy gendarmerie premises (Seine-Maritime) and placed in police custody. The Rouen public prosecutor's office adds that “four category C or D weapons were discovered in his vehicle”.

According to the first elements of the investigation, it was the driver's employer who noticed that she had left with the vehicle and who raised the alarm. The prosecution specifies that the suspect – who is unknown to the justice system and the police – expressed “suicidal intentions” but what“no remarks with ideological or religious connotations were expressed”.

After her arrest, the driver held “incoherent comments” without being “under the influence of a state of intoxication”. According to a police source at franceinfo, she has psychiatric disorders. The prosecution adds that“a psychiatric assessment is planned shortly” and that analyzes must still be carried out to find out if she was under the influence of drugs.

An investigation is opened – entrusted to the Rouen judicial police – for “murder”, “attempted murder”, “aggravated refusal to comply” and “irregular transport of weapons”. Investigations have yet to determine whether it was an accident or a deliberate act. Witness interviews are continuing and video protection is being used.