An 18-year-old young woman lost her life in Mechelen after being hit by a drunk driver, who fled before killing himself.
A young 18-year-old woman, Haley, who was on an electric scooter, lost her life Thursday evening after being hit by a car in Mechelen. The victim was accompanied by a friend, Amber, aged 19, who had to be hospitalized after the accident. She is out of danger, according to judicial sources.
According to Het Laatste Nieuws, the two young women were returning from an equestrian event. The driver, identified by police as a 36-year-old man named YS, had attended a football match and was driving under the influence of alcohol. The accident occurred around 8:30 p.m. on the N15 in Mechelen, between the UGC cinema and the Nekkerhal. The motorist is said to have been driving at 100km/h, while the maximum authorized speed is 50km/h on this street. The collision threw Amber into a ditch, leaving her seriously injured, while Haley died instantly.
The driver fled after the collision, but was able to be located thanks to video surveillance images and ANPR cameras. The vehicle in question was found shortly afterwards in Keerbergen, around ten kilometers south-east of Mechelen.
Around 10 p.m., the man jumped from a bridge spanning the E314 motorway in Holsbeek, the Leuven public prosecutor’s office said on Friday.
I can’t live with this, I killed someone.
YS’s mother spoke to Het Laatste Nieuws. “I can’t live with this, I killed someone. I killed someone“, he allegedly repeated to her by telephone a few moments after the accident. “For Y., it was white or black and nothing in between. He panicked to no end. I still begged him to come back…“.
“When he drank, he normally took the bus (…) Sometimes his friends took him home. I don’t know why he drove himself this time“, she assures. “Y. is now a criminal because he killed someone. He could never have tolerated all the gossip and other backbiting.”
mechelen accident drama road police
