A truck driver was taken into custody on Tuesday, after a 57-year-old man was fatally hit by a semi-trailer overnight in Harnes (Pas-de-Calais), the Béthune prosecutor's office said in a statement.
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According to the account of the public prosecutor's office, around 3:45 am "the attention of residents of 30, rue du petit moulin in Harnes, was attracted by a significant noise coming from the street." According to a police source, a 57-year-old father and his 18-year-old son then "found that as they progressed down the narrow street, a semi-trailer truck had damaged a fence and several vehicles and continued on its way without stop. "
Dragged for several meters
They then decided to "take their own car to start looking for the fleeing truck" and parked near a stopped semi-trailer, "a little further on the road to Lens" . The prosecution continues its story: the son then went "on foot to the height of the cabin" to "apostrophize" the driver who restarted and left the premises. "The young man then saw the lifeless body of his father on the road," he adds.
According to a police source, the father tried to get the driver out of his vehicle, but he was dragged several meters before being run over. When help arrived, "the victim was in cardiopulmonary arrest" and "despite the care provided" , she "was declared dead" , said the Departmental Fire and Rescue Operational Center (Codis). Her “shocked” son was left behind. "The first use of video surveillance elements led to the arrest of a truck driver, who was placed in police custody," wrote the package. Investigations are continuing.
