A speeding driver killed four people near Oud Gastel last September. The victims were two mothers and two children. Because there are still many questions about the accident, part of the accident was reconstructed.
That reconstruction was held on Sunday at the Borchwerf industrial estate, between Roosendaal and Oud Gastel. With some delay it started around twelve o’clock. The Roosendaalsebaan is therefore closed. Traffic is diverted by the police. This itself does not speak of a reconstruction, but of further research.
Alongside and on the road are people from the court, police, a public prosecutor and someone from the suspect’s law firm. Experts from the NFI are available with all kinds of measuring equipment. They will compare the data from this reconstruction with images from security cameras of the fatal evening.
The entire industrial estate was closed for the reconstruction. The collision itself is not simulated. It’s only about the run-up to the crash. A car like that of the suspect in the accident is used for this. They drive at different speeds. They do this to see how fast the suspect has been driving.
Gas pedal
Things went horribly wrong on this road on a Friday evening in early September 2022. It was still light. A rental car with a German license plate drove up from Roosendaal. Behind the wheel of the Mercedes SUV was Omar E. (28) from Roosendaal. He is said to have pressed the accelerator heavily until 155 was on the odometer, previous research showed. That is three times faster than is permitted on the priority road.
At that time the traffic lights were out. The victims turned onto Roosendaalsebaan from a side street. At that moment, Omar E. came charging from the right, out of a gentle bend. Whether they saw him is unknown.
At the intersection, E. rammed the victims’ car in the side. The result was horrific: two women aged 39 and 42 died, as did two children aged 8 and 10 from one family. A third 9-year-old child was injured. They were all residents of Bosschenhoofd.
The accident made a deep impression on relatives, the village, but also on the emergency services who were there.
To ask
Omar E. was arrested immediately after the crash and charged with reckless driving. He had not been drinking or taking drugs. From the first public hearing, a year ago in Breda, E.’s lawyer asked for a reconstruction. He wanted to see the situation himself because he is not from the area. He also has several questions about the accident.
The suspect himself was not at the reconstruction on Sunday. He was released in March this year after six months of pre-trial detention, under strict conditions.
In the summer, the police arrested E. and two other men during a raid in the Reginadonk in Roosendaal. The police found, among other things, 13 kilos of weed and 45,000 euros in cash.
The man has a criminal record. He has been convicted before for traffic violations and drug trafficking.