Man in danger of life after serious crash that ripped open the side of a car, driver missed a bend and crashed into two trees (Kruibeke)

A man was seriously injured on the Heirbaan, an unlit country road that runs parallel to the E17, on Tuesday evening.

A BMW passenger car with a 44-year-old man in the passenger seat and his 48-year-old girlfriend at the wheel, both from Beveren, was driving in the direction of the Hogenakkerhoek industrial estate around 8:15 p.m. when the driver missed a bend and crashed head-on into two trees. The first tree broke off completely, the second tree was severely damaged. The impact ripped the passenger side of the car completely open and broke off a front wheel. Both doors were also torn loose and lay meters away from the wreck, which came to rest on its roof in the shallow ditch next to the road about fifty meters away.

The passenger may have been thrown from the vehicle by the enormous impact. He was in the worst condition. Miraculously, the driver only suffered minor injuries, but was completely covered in paint from a large bucket of paint that was in the car and splashed open. The woman gave a positive breath test and had to surrender her driver’s license for fifteen days. The passenger was taken to Antwerp University Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

A traffic expert arrived on scene to thoroughly investigate the accident. No other vehicles were reportedly involved in the accident.