Car slams into carnival revelers in Belgium, at least 4 dead
12 seriously injured in Strépy-Bracquegnies, south of Brussels; some media reports say vehicle may have been chased by police when it hit crowd
BRUSSELS — A car slammed at high speed into carnival revelers early Sunday in a small town in southern Belgium, killing four people and seriously injuring about two dozen, the mayor reported.
A crowd of over 100 were gathered in Strépy-Bracquegnies, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Brussels, at dawn Sunday for the start of celebrations of the carnival, which had been abandoned for two years because of COVID-19.
“A car drove from the back at high speed. And we have a few dozen injured and unfortunately several people who are killed,” Mayor Jacques Gobert told RTBF radio.
“This Sunday morning, a vehicle collided with… a group of around 100 people which had just left the sports hall to go back up to the center of the village,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.
The public prosecutor’s office did not wish to make a statement on the case for the time being, but will speak later in the day, it said.
Media reports said the crash may have been caused by a car that was being chased by police.
“What should have been a great party turned into a tragedy,” said Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden.
The driver of the car was intercepted as he attempted to drive away from the scene, Sky News reported, citing RTBF.