Overview
- Authorities say the collision occurred around 7:45 p.m. near Place Schoelcher shortly after the town’s Christmas lights were switched on.
- Nineteen pedestrians were injured, including seven children, with three in critical condition and one of them a 10‑year‑old boy.
- The 45‑year‑old driver tested positive for alcohol and cannabis and was placed in police custody, according to the sous‑préfet.
- Emergency services activated the NOVI plan, mobilizing more than 40 firefighters, about twenty gendarmes and Samu teams, and set up a crisis cell with psychological support planned in Sainte‑Anne.
- Victims were taken to the Pôle parents‑enfants, the emergency department at CHU Pointe‑à‑Pitre/Abymes and Eaux Claires in Baie‑Mahault, and an unnamed source said the suspect was exfiltrated after a near‑lynching.