A young family was killed in a deadly accident on the E403 motorway near Ruddervoorde (West Flanders) after they were hit by a drunk 50-year-old driver on Saturday evening. The driver had previously been convicted over ten times, including for drink-driving.
On Saturday evening, the emergency services were called to a traffic accident involving a car that had overturned and ended up next to the motorway.
"Our services went to the scene, where they noticed another second wreck in a deep ditch," Jonathan Pfund, spokesman for the Federal Police, told VRT.
The police, fire brigade and paramedics who had rushed over immediately started looking for victims, and found that the three people in the car in the ditch were all dead. They were a young couple with their 8-year-old daughter.
Over ten convictions
"It was a rear-end collision," said Tom Janssens of the West Flanders Public Prosecutor's Office. "The car with the three occupants was hit by a man aged 50, who was slightly injured. He was driving excessively fast and was heavily under the influence of alcohol."
The man had over three to four times more alcohol in his blood than allowed. "He is currently under arrest but cannot yet be questioned," the Prosecutor's Office said. "When he is sober, we will interrogate him and see what to do with him. Hopefully, that will be in the course of the day."
The man has previously been convicted more than 10 times, including several times for drink-driving. "That man was known to us for several traffic offences, including intoxication," Janssens said.
"His driving licence has been taken away several times, but he has never had to go to jail." The man had not taken any other drugs.
