“I saw six people crushed”

rody He admits that he still can’t believe that he turned 35 this Sunday. The reason is that he is miraculously alive because the day before he went with his wife and his two children to the barbecue at the Club de Ice Kom, where a trailer from the Murcian company broke into El Mosca starring in a run over multiple that resulted in six deaths, including a pregnant woman, in addition to seven seriously injured. “The truck passed like thunder,” summarizes Rody, a resident of the Dutch village of Zuidzijde, in a conversation with EL ESPAÑOL.

[La Policía de Róterdam detiene al chófer español por el atropello mortal de seis personas]

More than a hundred residents of this village of 225 inhabitants, located in the south of Holland, they joined the barbecue of the aforementioned club, founded in 1930, and which organizes ice skating events and competitions when even the water in the ditches freezes. This Saturday was a day to enjoy coexistence because tents were set up, but after six in the afternoon everything turned into one of the most serious tragedies remembered in Europe in the sector of road transport.

“I was in the white tent, with children inside,” as Rody Jongebreur relates. “I saw the truck coming because I was sitting on the edge of the bench: I jumped and pushed my daughter, after that, everything was very fast.”

The high-tonnage vehicle crossed the dam like a shell where the grills were working at full blast, while the neighbors queued to eat a sausage or a hamburger. Chaos took over the festive atmosphere and the cries of the wounded buried by the trailer erased in one stroke the sound of the music, the laughter of the children and the chatter of the crowd. “I was in a state of shock“, continues this thirtysomething.

– How did you react to such a road accident?

– I missed my wife, my son, and the two children from another family. I ran to the trailer, got into the cab to remove the keys and stop the engine to prevent further damage. Then I looked for my family. I went under the truck to look for my wife and my two children, ages 5 and 9.

Rody stresses that lived moments of anguish because he could not find one of his children after inspecting the refrigerated trailer and the tractor head of the truck: “It was not under it and the children who were previously sitting on the bench were also not there”.

This resident of Zuidzijde came to believe that the little one of the house, 5 years old, had died, but eventually all members of this family survived, as confirmed to EL ESPAÑOL while being treated at the hospital. “Ahe look under the truck I suffered a superficial wound in the hand”. His wife and his daughter are also recovering from injuries.

At the wheel of the truck was an experienced 46-year-old driver who was on his way to pick up an agricultural shipment in a town near the village of Zuidzijde. From El Mosca, a company located in the Murcian municipality of Molina de Segura, they maintain that the multiple hit triggered by a vanwhite, which supposedly got in the middle of the road and forced the trailer driver to make a sudden maneuver to avoid the collision, ramming into the barbecue.

– Did you see a van cross the truck forcing you to swerve to avoid a collision?

– rody: No. The truck was stopped at an intersection before ending up on the barbecue levee. Dio one big turn and it went down.

The same story is told by Johan van Driel, a 55-year-old farmer, and a resident of this village shaken by a tragedy that has shocked an entire country. “I saw six people being crushed by the truck“, As this witness of the road accident specifies to questions from EL ESPAÑOL. “I was present with my wife at the Kom Ice Club barbecue, which was attended by more than 100 people, including children.”

– How did the trailer end up breaking into the barbecue?

– Johan van Driel: It is unclear how the truck got there. He could have gone left or right at the intersection. He chose the middle of the dam. The truck went through the tent where people were eating. I saw the truck go down and pass: I was five meters away.

This farmer has a terrifying image engraved on fire: “People were left under the truck.” Take as a sample button the body of a man trapped by a rear wheel. Some people managed to “jump in time”, including some kids who were in the tent set up on the dam. Others suffered worse luck, such as three members of the same family who died on the spot: a woman, her 28-year-old son and 41-year-old daughter-in-law, who was eight months pregnant.

Residents of the Dutch village of Zuidzijde tell Euronews about the multiple running over of a Spanish truck driver at a barbecue.

“We live in a small village: we all know each other,” says Johan, with the aim of emphasizing that this tragedy has caused deep sorrow among its inhabitants, whether or not they are relatives of the fatalities. The ages of the deceased range from 28 to 75 years. Men and women from different professional sectors, such as a soccer referee.

– Did you see the trailer stopped at a crossroads and how a van got in the middle of the road?

– Johan van Driel: I haven’t seen the white van. I sat with my back to the intersection. I did not see the truck stopped, but according to other witnesses it was. They say the truck was stopped for five minutes. He stopped at the intersection: he could go straight or left at the intersection. Instead, the truck went through the middle of the levee. He drove up the levee through the place where the barbecue was taking place.

– How did the neighbors react after the terrible accident?

– Panic, disbelief and impotence broke loose. Everybody was trying to help. Emergency services arrived en masse. The injured received help from barbecue attendees. Police pulled the driver out of the truck and took him away for questioning.

– How did the driver react when getting out of the cab of the trailer?

– The truck driver was uninjured, but seemed confused. He was absent. He appeared to be under the influence of drink or drugs.

– How would you define what you witnessed this Saturday?

– A movie that is not real. Impossible and incomprehensible.

Lillian van Duijvenbode, spokesperson for the Rotterdam Police, tells EL ESPAÑOL that the 46-year-old driver “will be brought this Tuesday before the investigating judge to decide whether the suspect should remain detained for longer during the investigation”. The judicial authority must determine whether the arrest of the driver, a Spanish national, should be extended beyond 72 hours. “If the driver is released or enters preventive detention, that will be decided today by the judge”.

The driver of the van

For now, the police spokeswoman confirms that they have already located the driver of the famous white van and have taken a statement “as a witness.” Now, investigators are evaluating inch by inch the truck involved in the incident. Is it so inspecting the state of maintenance and the mechanics of the truck, the brakes Y the tockeithergraph.

Such research aims to clarify several issues, such as how fast was it goingeven if the driver was distracted, since they have requested the download of the data from his mobile phone.

A spokesperson for El Mosca, an expert company in the transport of goods by land, sea and air, stresses to this newspaper that they hope that this Tuesday “the driver will be released” of Spanish nationality. “The testimonies of the neighbors are those of people in shock, that in most cases they did not see what happened because they were on a dam”, according to the aforementioned spokesman.

“We are certain that he has not tested positive for any drug and police works on the hypothesis that the white van caused that the truck driver left the road: who would have imagined that there was a barbecue behind that dam?

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