Child run over by truck Resident raises accusations against Basel authorities

A child was run over by a truck in Basel on Friday and died. The parents speak about their loss in an interview. According to a local resident, the accident could have been prevented.

On Friday, eleven-year-old Elior was run over by a truck on a pedestrian crossing in Basel and fatally injured. The traffic lights at the Elsässerstrasse/Hüningerstrasse junction were green when the boy crossed the pedestrian crossing after the last day of school. He succumbed to his injuries at the scene of the accident.

"It's just awful what happened," said Elior's father to Blick. The whole family is heartbroken: "We are empty inside. But full of memories of him. Our Elior was an angel in this world."

At the time of the accident, Elior's eight-year-old sister was walking just 20 meters behind him. Although she did not witness the accident, she walked past the scene. The sister and other children then started screaming in the street, alerting Elior's parents. "I sensed early on that our son was dead," the mother is quoted as saying.

Whether the truck driver also had the green light is still being investigated. However, the warning sign "Beware of vehicles approaching on the left when the light is green", which was affixed to the traffic lights the day after the accident, points to this.

"The death could have been prevented"

The fact that the junction poses a potential safety risk apparently comes as no surprise to some: "The death could have been prevented," said a local resident to "20 Minuten". They had already reported this dangerous spot to the Basel authorities in several ways.

Residents have been calling for a 30 km/h speed limit and a redesign of the junction for some time. In June, over 200 residents also signed a petition for a safe route to school in the neighborhood.

The resident submitted the request directly to the Basel Building Department in November last year. The Office for Mobility replied that the section was not intended for a 30 km/h speed limit and that the federal requirements were not met.

"I feel sad and angry that the situation at this junction has never been addressed by the city," the resident is quoted as saying. Elior's death was more than just a tragic fate: "Our concerns were not taken seriously." She herself had seen the traffic lights at the junction being ignored by motorized traffic on several occasions.