Man flees from police and causes fatal accident

The police of the Kouter zone was called up on Thursday evening around 7.30 pm for problems in Gistel with a 51-year-old man from Houthulst. When he spotted the officers, the man immediately fled. It came to a chase in which high speeds were reached.

Things went completely wrong on the Nieuwpoortse Steenweg in Zevekote, a borough of Gistel. The man in his fifties collided head-on with an oncoming vehicle in a gentle bend. The vehicle of a 65-year-old from Ostend ended up in a canal due to the impact. Both drivers were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. The man from Ostend has since succumbed to his injuries.

The public prosecutor’s office has appointed a traffic expert to investigate the exact circumstances of the crash. In the meantime, it has already emerged that the fleeing driver was under the influence of alcohol and drugs.