After a 57-year-old man was fatally hit by a semi-trailer on the night of Monday to Tuesday in Harnes, Pas-de-Calais, the truck driver arrested on Tuesday was exonerated. Another man was in custody on Friday, the Béthune prosecutor's office said in a statement.
The involved truck now identified
The continuation of the investigation by the services of the police station of Lens "made it possible to exonerate the driver initially arrested" and "led to the identification of the truck involved in the death of the victim, whose driver is currently in custody, "said the prosecution.
According to the story of the prosecution, in the night from Monday to Tuesday, around 3:45 am, neighbors heard "a significant noise coming from the street". Two men, a father and his 18-year-old son, say they saw that a "semi-trailer truck damaged a fence and several vehicles and continued on without stopping".
They then decided to "take their own car to look for the fleeing truck" and parked near a stopped semi-trailer, "a little further on the road to Lens". According to the prosecution, the son then went "on foot to the height of the cabin" to "apostrophize" the driver who restarted and left the premises. "The young man then saw the lifeless body of his father on the road," said the prosecution.
According to a police source, the father tried to get the driver out of his vehicle, but he was dragged several meters before being run over.