A day later, local residents in Chaam are still deeply upset by the accident in their street in which two children died. Several people came to the rescue or saw the accident happen. “I ran outside and meanwhile had 911 on the phone. It was terrible.”
A car containing three children and their mother collided with a tree on Oude Bredasebaan. Two children (0 and 4 years) died. The mother is in hospital with serious injuries, as is her third child, who according to the police is ‘under five years’.
The accident happened on a straight road outside a built-up area. A man who lives right across from the scene of the accident says he and his wife were immediately on the scene to help. He is still shocked by what he experienced on Saturday.
“I heard a loud bang around five o’clock and immediately ran outside. In the meantime I had 112 on the phone,” says the man.
The emergency center accompanied the couple on the phone in the first minutes so that they could provide first aid to the children. “We saw everything. It was terrible. We really spent all night on it. Especially because we have grandchildren of our own who are exactly the same age as those children.”
According to the resident, a car was also behind the crashed car. “The people in that car told us that they were just driving fifty kilometers per hour. According to those people, the car just suddenly turned left. Out of nowhere.”
Nellie Olieslagers lives around the corner from where the accident happened. “I was driving home in my electric wheelchair when I was overtaken by the car,” Nellie begins to tell.
She spontaneously starts to cry. “I see it all the time. I see that car driving into the tree again all the time.” She didn’t go see herself. “I can’t do anything from my wheelchair and I’m just in the way. Fortunately, the neighbors across the street were there immediately.”
According to Nellie, the car drove ‘very neatly around fifty or sixty’. “A few meters further on I see the car suddenly turn left. Right against the tree.” The big question Nellie has is how this could have happened. “She passed me very calmly. There was no oncoming vehicle. Nothing else happened. I don’t understand.”
The police also say they do not yet know how the fatal collision on the Oude Bredasebaan in Chaam could have happened on Saturday afternoon. Due to the dramatic circumstances, the driver has not yet been heard, the police said on Sunday.
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