“There have already been several accidents” on this departmental road, recalls the mayor of Bailleau-le-Pin (Eure-et-Loir), Martial Lochon, the day after the collision involving three vehicles which left seven dead and for which the prosecutor’s office opened an investigation.
Tuesday around 6:30 p.m., a vehicle “with five people on board, left a curve on the opposite lane” and collided with a second vehicle “which was traveling in the opposite direction, normally, on its lane,” specified in a press release the public prosecutor, Frédéric Chevallier.
“It emerged from initial testimony that the Honda vehicle (the one with five people on board, editor’s note) was traveling at high speed,” added the magistrate.
Prisoners of the flames
“Immobilized on the roof”, the vehicle which had initially deviated from its route immediately caught fire. “Despite the quickly mobilized help, the (first) vehicle was completely burned as were the five bodies trapped inside,” according to the prosecutor.
In this car were five young people: a 17-year-old girl and four young boys aged 18 to 19, living in Eure-et-Loir.
The two passengers of the second vehicle, aged 85 and 80, died instantly, thrown “into the ditch”.
Two other people, who were traveling in a third vehicle also hit during the accident, were injured and transported to a hospital center near Chartres.
The open investigation into homicides and unintentional injuries was entrusted to the Lucé gendarmerie company and the Eure-et-Loir departmental road safety squadron.
Upcoming autopsies
Autopsies as well as samples must now be carried out “in order to search for any narcotic product and detect the presence of alcohol in the bodies of the five occupants of the vehicle” at the origin of the accident.
This heavy toll makes it one of the deadliest road accidents since August 19, 2022 in Ariège, where six people, including two children, died in a head-on collision between two cars.
“19 is not an age to die”
In Bailleau-le-Pin, the time has come for “collapse, incomprehension and inacceptance,” the mayor, Martial Lochon, told AFP.
“19 years is not an age to die,” he lamented, before emphasizing that “usually, we see tragedies of this importance in other municipalities, but we never imagine that it could be in ours.”
The portion of the RD 921 where the collision took place is a “fairly tight passage with bends where there have already been several accidents,” lamented the elected official.
“On the other hand, the configuration of the land being what it is, the bends are adapted for normal and respectful traffic. “If speed limits are not respected, driving can quickly become dangerous,” he said.
In the town, several residents discussed the accident on their doorstep the day after the accident.
“I have lived here for almost 40 years, and this is at least the 5th time that I have heard of an accident on this section of the departmental road,” says Jacques, 70, who did not wish to give details. his last name just like Marie, who shakes her head at his side and sighs: “Regardless of the cause of this tragedy, the consequences are terrible for the families concerned, who will now have to mourn the loss of so many people at once “.
(AFP)
