One Dead in E34 Truck Crash in Vosselaar, Belgium

One person was killed and another seriously injured in a collision between a car and a truck on the E34 motorway in Vosselaar, in Belgium’s Antwerp province, early Saturday morning. The passenger car rear-ended the truck shortly before 6:00 AM, and the impact left both occupants trapped inside.

According to VRT NWS, the accident happened on the carriageway heading towards Antwerp. “Just before 6 this morning an accident happened on the E34. Two vehicles were involved: a passenger car and a truck,” said An Berger of the federal police.

Key Facts

The fire brigade was called in to free the two occupants, who were pinned in the wreckage by the impact. “There were two people in the passenger car. One of them unfortunately died at the scene. The other occupant was taken to hospital with serious injuries,” Berger said.

The deceased victim has been identified as a 65-year-old man who was driving the car, according to HLN. The second occupant, whose identity and age have not been released, remains in hospital.

HLN reported that the crash occurred at around 5:50 AM at the Steenweg op Gierle on- and off-ramp complex, on the border between Vosselaar and the neighbouring city of Turnhout.

Road Closed for Hours

The E34 carriageway was closed for several hours while emergency services worked the scene and police carried out their on-scene investigation. It was reopened to traffic shortly before 10:00 AM.

“The carriageway was closed for a considerable time to allow the emergency services to do their work and to carry out the necessary observations,” Berger said. She added that the investigation into the circumstances of the accident is ongoing.

Context

The E34 is a major east-west route in northern Belgium, connecting the Antwerp region towards the Dutch border via Turnhout. The stretch around Vosselaar and Turnhout-West is a busy commuter and freight corridor, and rear-end collisions involving trucks are a recurring type of incident on the route.

No cause for the crash, such as distraction, speed or fatigue, has been attributed, and no official identification of the victim beyond his age has been released.

What’s Next

Police have not said how long their investigation is expected to take. The seriously injured passenger remains in hospital, and authorities have not provided an update on their condition. The case is one of a number of serious incidents recorded on this section of the E34 in recent months, keeping local attention on road safety along the corridor.