A pilot injured and repatriated after the explosion of a vehicle in Dakar
A French pilot was seriously injured in the calf by the explosion of an assistance vehicle of his team, Sodicars.
Pretext image: A team during Stage 1A of the 2022 Dakar Rally between Jeddah and Hail, Saudi Arabia, January 1, 2022
AFP
A French driver of the Dakar 2022, injured Thursday in a leg by the explosion of his car near Jeddah (center west), has undergone surgery in Saudi Arabia and must be repatriated to France, announced the organization of the rally-raid on Saturday. while the Saudi authorities have ruled out a “criminal” act.
The organizers had previously explained that they did not rule out a “malicious act” and, according to an AFP journalist, security has been greatly enhanced around the rally-raid bivouac.
But in a tweet, the Saudi Minister of the Interior dismissed any “suspicion of a criminal order” to explain this “accident”. According to him, five French people were in this assistance car, “one of whom was hospitalized and is in a reassuring state”.
“The driver of the car sustained a serious leg injury and had to undergo surgery. His condition is improving (…). His vehicle had been brutally stopped by a sudden explosion, the origin of which is still unknown at this stage. The Saudi police immediately went to the scene and began their investigations, ruling out any possibility, including that of a malicious act, ”according to the statement from organizer ASO published before the tweet of the Saudi authorities.
Race director David Castera said in an interview with francetvinfo.fr that the driver was Philippe Boutron, 61 years old. He participates in his ninth Dakar and is president of the US Orléans football club (3rd div.). The organizers did not give more details on the severity of his injuries.
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