A collision between a passenger vehicle and a tanker left four dead on Monday evening on a departmental road in Roye (Somme).
Around 8:30 p.m., "a fatal accident occurred on the RD 930 at Roye, involving" a car and a truck "which was carrying 24 tonnes of vinyl acetate," the prefecture said.
“The current death toll” is four people who died “inside the car”.
The driver of the truck, injured, was taken care of by the firefighters.
The circumstances of the accident are not yet known.
On board the car, according to Courrier Picard, a woman who was driving her two sons, including a minor, and the girlfriend of her eldest son.
The truck driver's alcohol and narcotics tests were negative.
The departmental fire and rescue service "is mobilized to secure the area of the accident by throwing a carpet of foam to avoid any risk of fire or explosion".
Vinyl acetate is an industrial chemical primarily used as an adhesive in paints.
It is irritating to the respiratory tract and its liquid and vapors are highly flammable.