Three seriously injured in car accident in Ypres

At around half past two in the night from Saturday to Sunday, a call came in at the Westhoek fire department for a person who was trapped in a vehicle on the N8 in Elverdinge near Ypres. The driver had swerved and via the verge on the other side of the road, the vehicle eventually crashed into a tree.

The mosquito was the first on the scene and it turned out to be not one but three occupants. The aid workers therefore called in two extra ambulances. A passenger was able to get out of the wreckage on his own from the back seat. With the assistance of the fire brigade, the driver, who was previously trapped, also got out of the car fairly quickly. A man was trapped in the front passenger seat.

Vehicle peeled

“The vehicle had had a very heavy impact,” says Kristof Louagie of the Westhoek fire department. “The right side was very badly dented and the vehicle was standing on two wheels above the berm next to the canal.” That made it difficult to help the trapped injured person. “We took the vehicle away piece by piece like you would peel an onion,” Louagie says. “Our wounded attendant was in constant contact with the victim during the liberation.”

As soon as the fire service could make a sufficient opening in the car, the medical staff put him on an IV. After 45 minutes, the firefighters had finally freed him. The three seriously injured young Frenchmen were taken to hospital in Ypres. Two of them were admitted to intensive care and one other had to undergo surgery.

Place frozen

After the fire service had removed all occupants from the vehicle, the police and the public prosecutor’s office froze the accident site. The emergency services were temporarily not allowed to clean up or affect the condition of the environment. Due to the high human impact, the court conducted an investigation into the possible circumstances of the accident.

It was not until six o’clock that the part of the N9 was cleared again. On the long straight road, car drivers sometimes dare to drive faster than allowed.