AFP with Europe 1 5:34 p.m., February 11, 2022, modified at 5:34 p.m., February 11, 2022

The explosion which seriously injured the French pilot Philippe Boutron on December 30, 2021, in Saudi Arabia just before the start of the Dakar, was caused by "an improvised explosive device", according to the investigators who went there.

The only possible explanation for the explosion on December 30 of the vehicle of French driver Philippe Boutron during the Dakar 2022 in Saudi Arabia is the installation of an "improvised explosive device", a source familiar with the matter said on Friday. .

According to this source, which confirmed information from RTL, the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office (Pnat) traveled to Saudi Arabia at the end of January - beginning of February.

Contacted by Europe 1, a source close to the investigation, also confirms this information.

He was accompanied by investigators from the General Directorate of Homeland Security (DGSI) and technicians from the technical and scientific police, who were able to take samples from the vehicle and reach this conclusion.

"Attempted assassinations in connection with a terrorist enterprise"

On December 30, the explosion that hit the car in Jeddah, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia, seriously injured the driver, Frenchman Philippe Boutron.

Five other people were also on board.

The Saudi authorities spoke of an "accident".

But Paris stressed from the start that "the hypothesis of a criminal act" was not ruled out.

On January 4, the Pnat announced that it had opened a preliminary investigation into "attempted assassinations in connection with a terrorist enterprise".

Philippe Boutron was driving at the time of the explosion, near the hotel where the occupants of the vehicle had just spent the night.

The crew headed for the stadium where the checks were held on the cars to take part in the rally-raid, which started two days later.

Repatriated after being operated on in Saudi Arabia.

He was treated at the Percy military hospital in Clamart, near Paris, then placed in an artificial coma for a few days to relieve his pain.

At the end of January, in an interview with France Bleu Orléans, he returned to the explosion: "there was a big shock. We did not expect it at all. The bomb was put under the floor (of his vehicle assistance, editor's note) and I took the floor under my legs".

He indicated that he could walk again.