Driver flees and is arrested Car crashes into Paris restaurant - one dead and six injured
After the accident, the emergency services arrive with a large contingent.
Image: dpa
Rescue workers attend to the injured after the accident, many witnesses are in shock.
Image: dpa
Shortly before the Olympic Games in Paris, many military forces are in the city to secure the area after the accident.
Image: dpa
After the accident, the emergency services arrive with a large contingent.
Image: dpa
Rescue workers attend to the injured after the accident, many witnesses are in shock.
Image: dpa
Shortly before the Olympic Games in Paris, many military forces are in the city to secure the area after the accident.
Image: dpa
People are having dinner in a Paris restaurant when a car crashes into the terrace. Shortly before the Olympic Games, there are fears of terrorism, but the police assume it was an accident.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- A car has crashed into the terrace of a restaurant in Paris. One person was killed and six others injured.
- So far, the police are assuming it was an accident.
- Around 20 immediate eyewitnesses suffered severe shock.
- The driver, who initially fled the scene, was later arrested.
Shortly before the start of the Olympic Games in Paris, many police officers and soldiers are on the road for fear of attacks - when a car crashes into the terrace of a restaurant. People are knocked to the ground on Wednesday evening, windows shatter, one person is killed and six injured, three of them critically. However, it quickly becomes clear that the police do not believe it was terrorism, but an accident, as the newspaper "Le Parisien" and the BFMTV channel report, citing initial investigations. The driver, who initially flees the scene, is later arrested.
His car drove at high speed into the outdoor terrace of a restaurant in the 20th district, just at a time when many people were arriving for dinner. All the victims were guests of the restaurant, it was reported. 23 eyewitnesses suffered severe shock and received psychological support, according to the district mayor.
Accident driver arrested in the evening
The driver is said to be a 24-year-old from the Paris region, who is being investigated for involuntary manslaughter and assault, the newspaper and broadcaster reported, citing the police. Whether he had been drinking alcohol or taking drugs is still being investigated. The co-driver, who was allegedly under the influence of alcohol and drugs, was arrested at the scene of the accident.
Shortly before the start of the Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, the police and military have a massive presence in the city. After the accident, soldiers from the Sentinelle anti-terrorist unit located nearby checked the car for explosives, but found nothing, as reported by Europe 1. Investigators ruled out a terrorist background in the evening.
Reminder of terrorist attacks in 2015
For some witnesses and Parisians, the serious accident at a restaurant and the large-scale deployment of emergency services brought back painful memories of the serious terrorist attacks in the city in November 2015, when Islamist terrorists killed 130 people in various places, including on the terraces of bars and restaurants. At the time, this was also seen as an attack on the French way of life.