After the drama, it's time for questions.
The driver Thierry Richard, who was in the vehicle hit by an explosion on December 30 on the Dakar-2022 injuring another French competitor, said Tuesday he was convinced that it was an "
attack
".
“
We saw the impact under the vehicle.
We are not stupid, we know that it is also an explosion.
We took a breath in the car
", told AFP the pilot of the Sodicars team to which the victim also belongs, adding:"
It is an attack, we were blown up
".
Read also Dakar: relatives of the pilot speak of "a bomb attack" after the explosion of his vehicle
Saudi authorities on Saturday ruled out a criminal act to explain what they described as an “
accident
”, which seriously injured Philippe Boutron, 61, in a leg, repatriated after having been operated on in Saudi Arabia.
For its part, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on its nationals to be "
maximum vigilant
", adding on the contrary that "
the hypothesis of a criminal act
" was "
not ruled out
" and recalling that "
the terrorist threat persists. (a) in Saudi Arabia
”.
The organization of the race had explained that a "
malicious act
" was not excluded.
Also president of Union Sportive Orléans Football, a third division club, Philippe Boutron was driving the vehicle at the time of the explosion in Jeddah (center west) near the hotel where its occupants had just spent the night, and then 'she was heading towards the stadium where checks were taking place on the cars scheduled to take part in the rally-raid which began two days later.
Thierry Richard, 57, spoke of "
war scenes
", "
very difficult
"
moments
.
According to the Bordeaux resident, six people were on board, including him in the passenger seat.
The pilot explained that he was lifted by the blast, added that his legs hit the dashboard and the car caught fire.
Philippe Boutron received first aid on the spot, administered in particular by his co-pilot, Mayeul Barbet, after being extracted from the vehicle, according to this testimony.
"
The organization was very good with us from the start, it handled everything for Philippe including his repatriation and never asked us not to talk to anyone
," he continued.
Asked by AFP, the Saudi authorities refused to comment, as did the director of Sodicars, Richard Gonzalez.