Born in 2000 and 2005, the two victims were from Marchiennes (North), according to the mayor of Tournai. An investigation was opened and a suspect was arrested. He was drunk and driving at “excessive speed” when he caused the accident.
The damaged bodywork of the two cars testifies to the violence of the fatal collision. On the night of Wednesday May 8 to Thursday May 9, 2024, the emergency services of Picardy Wallonia were called around 1:30 a.m. to intervene near the Zoo Club, a nightclub located in Tournai (Belgium), around twenty kilometers from the border. French.
On site, firefighters took care of seven people spread across two vehicles. Two people lost their lives, three others were injured.
“An Audi car hit a Peugeot in which were the two deceased victims, born in 2000 and 2005. Both are of French nationality”, indicated Vincent Macq, king’s prosecutor for the judicial district of Tournai Mons. The two deceased victims, a young man and a young woman aged around twenty, lived in the town of Marchiennes in Valenciennois, according to the mayor of Tournai, contacted by telephone.
Paul-Olivier Delannois was called in the middle of the night and says “absolute horror.” He describes the scene. “A car coming from Leuze-en-Hainaut and driving towards Tournai was traveling at much too high a speed, explains the mayor of Tournai. The second vehicle, which had just entered the nightclub parking lot, was maneuvering to leave because there was no space. That’s when the shock hit.”
The first elements of the investigation confirm that the driver of the Audi – a man born in 1993 and living in Tournai – “appeared to be traveling at a very high speed”, according to the magistrate. He was also “under the influence of drink”. The suspect was placed at the disposal of an investigating judge.
On social networks, the mayor of Tournai expressed his condolences to the families of the two French victims. “I am thinking particularly of the bereaved families for whom tomorrow will no longer be the same as before,” wrote Paul-Olivier Delannois, very touched by the tragedy.
