Six killed as car drives into carnival crowd in Belgium

The incident, which occurred early on Sunday morning in the Wallonia region, left more than 30 people injured, ten seriously

A car plowed at high speed through a crowd attending a carnival in Belgium’s Wallonia region early on Sunday morning, killing several people, including a child, and injuring dozens more.

The incident happened at around 5am in the town of Strépy-Bracquegnies, 50km north of Brussels. It left six dead and 37 others injured, ten of them seriously, according to Belgium’s Interior Ministry.

“There are no words. It’s horrific… to see these bodies scattered on the road, the people who are in pain,” Mayor Jacques Gobert, who presides over the neighboring town of La Louvière, said.

The driver of the car – who attempted to escape but was intercepted – has reportedly been detained, and the circumstances of what the mayor described as a “catastrophe” are currently being established.

First responders remain at the scene and the town has triggered its emergency plan. Local media reports suggest the car, which smashed into the revelers at high speed, was fleeing from a police chase. 

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Strépy-Bracquegnies hosts a carnival every year, but it was suspended in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.