In the morning of 20 March 2022, a motorist drove a car through a crowd celebrating

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

Strépy-Bracquegnies Strépy-Bracquegnies ( wa, Sterpi-Bracgnere) is a village in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a district of the municipality of La Louvière in the province of Hainaut. It is around 6 km west of the centre of La Louvière, and around 50 km south-west of ...

La Louvière La Louvière (; wa, El Lovire) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boussoit, Haine-Saint-Paul, Haine-Saint-Pierre, Houdeng-Aimeries, Hou ...

, Belgium. Six people were killed and around 40 were wounded, with ten of the wounded people having very serious or even potentially fatal injuries. A crowd of 150–200 people were parading towards the centre of the village, dressed up in costumes in celebration of the Christian festival of

when the car collided with the crowd in the ''rue des Canadiens''. A TV presenter said that the vehicle "deliberately entered" the crowd, killing several people. After crashing into the crowd, the car, which was carrying two people, sped off from the scene; later being stopped by police. Six people in total were killed, including Frédéric d'Andrea, a steward for the RAAL La Louvière

football club A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all- ...

. Police denied early reports that the vehicle had been engaging in a "high-speed chase" by police at the time. While a terrorist motive was ruled out, whether or not it was intentional was at first unclear. Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said he was shocked by the incident and responded to it as "horrible news", and travelled to the village with

Philippe of Belgium french: Philippe Léopold Louis Mariegerman: Philipp Leopold Ludwig Maria , house = Belgium , father = Albert II of Belgium , mother = Paola Ruffo di Calabria , birth_date = , birth_place = Belvédère Castle, Laeken, B ...

that day. French President

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France since 2017. ''Ex officio'', he is also one of the two Co-Princes of Andorra. Prior to his presidency, Macron served as Minister of Econ ...

also expressed his sorrow and expressed empathy to Belgium. The driver was charged with

manslaughter Manslaughter is a common law legal term for homicide considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is sometimes said to have first been made by the ancient Athenian lawmaker Draco in the 7th cen ...

a few days later. He confessed he had exceeded the speed limit when the crash occurred, and insisted that what had happened was an accident. Investigation indicated that the driver had been going 160 km/h while under the influence and using his mobile phone.

Fatal Victims

* Mario Cascarano, (56 years old) * Michelina Imperiale (54 years old) * Salvatore Imperiale (56 years old) * Fred Cicero * Laure Gara (49 years old) * Frederic D'andrea (40 years old)

References

{{Road incidents in 2022 Strepy-Bracquegnies car crash 2022 road incidents in Europe History of Hainaut La Louvière Strepy-Bracquegnies car crash Road incidents in Belgium Carnival