Maximilien Carlier, edited by Gauthier Delomez 6:54 a.m., March 21, 2022, modified at 6:54 a.m., March 21, 2022

A car drove into a crowd this Sunday morning during a carnival in Strépy-Bracquegnies in southern Belgium.

The balance sheet Sunday evening was six dead and 26 injured, ten seriously.

A drama that upset these inhabitants of the village, some of whom shared their emotion at the microphone of Europe 1.

REPORT

On the road, we still see traces of blood.

Right next to it, at the foot of a tree, bouquets of flowers left by the inhabitants.

On Sunday, a car drove into a crowd gathering to take part in an early carnival in the south of Belgium, in Strépy-Bracquegnies, a village dependent on the city of La Louvière, killing six people and injuring 26 others, ten seriously in a final report on Sunday evening.

Fabrice Collignon was present during the tragedy.

At the microphone of Europe 1, he recounts the moment when the car hit the crowd: "Time to say 'what's going on', it was over."

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Residents on the alert

Fabrice Collignon continues his testimony: "A second before, people were happy to hear the drums and a second after, there were cries, tears, children calling their parents. I saw people fall back with blood flowing from their heads, some were inert. It's unimaginable and horrible, "says the witness of the tragedy, stressing that his life had lasted "only one meter".

He moved out of the way to pick up his phone and was not hit.

In the village, people now turn around when a car comes up behind them.

Residents now turn around as each car passes.


Credits: Maximilien Carlier/Europe 1

Mélanie, a local resident, is moved, she who is used to doing carnivals.

"It could have happened to us too. There are no words. What was going through the minds of those people? What did they want to do? “, she wonders at the microphone of Europe 1. And continues: “The authors are degenerates”, according to her, “but all that will not prevent us from continuing to party. Nothing will be able to stop the folklore, especially here in Belgium".

The two people in the car that drove into the crowd were arrested.

They were returning from an alcoholic evening aboard a black BMW 5 series.