A traffic accident on the A8 motorway caused the death of an Escota company employee. Four people, including two gendarmes, were injured. A car hit a group of people present on the road to protect a first accident, according to the gendarmerie spokesperson.
A traffic accident on the A8 motorway, near the town of La Turbie (Alpes-Maritimes), caused the death of an employee of the Escota motorway company (Vinci Autoroutes) and four people including two gendarmes were injured, the emergency services and Vinci said on Sunday.
“A terrible accident” caused in “unacceptable circumstances”
The tragedy occurred when a car collided with a group of people present on the road while securing a first accident, said a spokesperson for the gendarmerie, who had initially mentioned six injured. In a press release at the end of the afternoon, Vinci spoke of “a terrible accident” caused in “unacceptable circumstances” by “a crazy car” which hit Escota patrol officers, gendarmes and repairmen who were assisting the first accident vehicle and its occupants, after having put in place markings to secure the area.
According to Vinci, who decided to file a complaint for homicide, the images “evidence of very excessive speed and dangerous driving on the part of the driver of the crazy car”. The four injured, two of them seriously, are another patrolman from Escota, two police officers and a repairman, Vinci said. The first accident, on a descent, 300 meters from the La Turbie toll in the Italy-France direction, was caused by aquaplaning, the precipitation being particularly intense this Sunday, according to the gendarmerie.
The department was placed by Météo France on yellow rain-flood alert on Sunday, due to intense precipitation which caused numerous tree falls and some road cuts.