‘Fun to horror’ at Belgium carnival as car runs into crowd, killing 6
- Car drove into a carnival gathering in a southern Belgian town of Strepy-Bracquegnies
- Authorities say no indications of a terrorist motive; pair in car came from a nightclub
Belgium mourned after a car ploughed into a crowd of early morning carnival-goers, killing six people and injuring dozens of others, but the authorities ruled out an act of terrorism.
The tragedy took place around 5am on Sunday as the carnival of Strepy-Bracquegnies, a district in the former coal-mining town of La Louviere, was getting under way.
“At this stage of the investigation, we know that a vehicle slammed into a group (of carnival goers) and that there are six dead and 26 injured, including 10 people whose life is in danger,” prosecutor Damien Verheyen said at the town’s city hall.
Investigators said the suspects were born in 1988 and 1990 and came from La Louviere, a town near the French border in Belgium’s rust belt. They were not known to the authorities for similar acts.
Chief prosecutor Christian Henry said the two were coming from a nightclub “and had just dropped off another person just before the events”.
Blood test results were expected on Monday and “will allow us to say if they have consumed drugs”, he told RTBF news.