A 75-year-old man died and several of his relatives were injured on Saturday in an accident on the A26 motorway towards the Pas-de-Calais coast, firefighters and gendarmes said.
This accident, which occurred in the middle of a day classified red at the national level due to the crossover of holidaymakers, led to several kilometers of slowdowns.
Read alsoHoliday crossover: 40 years ago, the Beaune accident changed road safety rules
Saturday at midday, two vehicles driving together, coming from Meurthe-et-Moselle and heading towards the Channel coast, collided a few hundred meters from the Setques toll (Pas-de-Calais) , said the Saint-Omer gendarmerie platoon.
A third car was also hit, according to the same source.
The passenger of one of the first two cars, a 75-year-old man, died, and the 73-year-old driver of his vehicle was seriously injured and rushed to hospital, firefighters said.
It would be his wife, according to the
Voix du Nord
, which specifies that the couple was going on vacation with members of their family, including two children, traveling in the second car.
Read alsoListening to the radio delays drowsiness at the wheel
In addition to the driver, 5 people traveling in the three vehicles were injured more lightly according to the firefighters: two thirty-year-olds, a three-year-old girl, and a 65-year-old man and woman.
They were all transported to the nearby Helfaut hospital center, near Saint-Omer.
