A serious road accident took place this Wednesday, June 5 in the town of La Rochelle. A car hit a group of children at a leisure center who were riding bicycles.
Around forty firefighters, around thirty police officers, seven ambulances and two SMUR teams were mobilized to take care of the injured. Around 10 a.m., this Wednesday, June 5, 2024, a car hit a group of children on bicycles, who were traveling in single file, wearing helmets and reflective vests, accompanied by two experienced chaperones from the Bernard Palissy leisure center, which organized the exit. The road accident occurred at the corner of avenue de Coligny and rue Jules Ferry, in La Rochelle. At the origin of the incident which left several seriously injured children, aged 8 to 11, a yellow Twingo which was coming in the opposite direction from the after-school group, reports France Blue And The Dispatch.
To the AFP, which echoes The Dispatch, a resident of the avenue explains that the driver, aged 83, “went all the way up the street in the left lane against the flow, she no longer knew what she was doing”. A judicial investigation was opened for involuntary injury and entrusted to the Interdepartmental Directorate of the National Police (DIPN) of La Rochelle. As of Wednesday evening, the driver’s state of health had still not allowed her to be heard. The investigators therefore prioritized questioning witnesses and looking for any available surveillance video images.
Seven seriously injured
Firefighters who arrived at the scene of the accident reported three serious injuries and four minor injuries. Among the seven victims, two of them were evacuated to Poitiers. The first, a little girl, had to be transported by helicopter due to the seriousness of her condition. On Wednesday evening, the secretary general of the Charente-Maritime prefecture, Emmanuel Cayron, announced that she had then been transferred to Tours hospital. The other was taken to Poitiers hospital, where he was still being treated Wednesday evening, via road. As reported France Bluein addition to these two children, one in extreme emergency, the other in absolute emergency, a third child is in absolute emergency and four others in relative emergency.
The Charente-Maritime prefecture indicated that it had “activated the departmental operational center and mobilized all security and emergency services”. On A medical-psychological emergency unit was also set up in a municipal hall near the scene of the accident. To local media, witnesses to the scene reported screams and screams at the time of the tragedy, as well as “terrible images”, in the words of the secretary general of the Charente-Maritime prefecture. In addition to the medical-psychological unit set up, a public information telephone platform, reachable on 09 70 80 90 40 (free call), has also been activated by the prefecture.
A yellow car caused the accident
For the moment, we do not yet know the exact circumstances of the incident but it was a yellow Twingo which hit the group of children, journalists from France Bleu present on site. The driver of the car is an 83-year-old woman who allegedly lost control of the vehicle, he also added. South West. The Prosecutor’s Office indicated that she tested negative for alcohol and narcotics, before adding that “the cause of the frontal impact has not been determined.” The driver’s custody had to be lifted due to her medical condition, she was hospitalized and is not yet “hearable” according to the public prosecutor, reports France Bleu.