The French national anti-terrorism prosecution is opening a preliminary investigation after the explosion which affected, on December 30, a car in the Dakar rally which is currently taking place in Saudi Arabia, a car in which five French people were traveling. Pilot Philippe Boutron was seriously injured. The PNAT therefore does not rule out the criminal track.
For the Saudi authorities, this is an accident. But French justice, it is not so sure. The National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office therefore opened a preliminary investigation for ” attempted assassinations in connection with a terrorist enterprise “. The DGSI, the Directorate of Internal Security, is responsible for shedding light on what happened on December 30 in Jeddah.
A call to the ” maximum vigilance “
At the time of the explosion, Philippe Boutron, who is driving, and his crew have just left their hotel where they spent the night. They go to the bivouac set up in a stadium for the usual technical verifications before the start of the rally two days later. The 61-year-old pilot suffered serious leg injuries.
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Operated in Saudi Arabia, he was then repatriated to France. He is still hospitalized at the Percy military hospital, in Clamart, and has been placed in an artificial coma.
The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on its nationals to ” maximum vigilance “And recalls that” the terrorist threat persists in Saudi Arabia “.