The Antwerp correctional court sentenced a 38-year-old French coach driver to 40 months in prison, a €4,000 fine, and a lifetime driving ban over a fatal crash on the E19 in Schoten.
The court also established a causal link between the driver's cannabis use and the accident.
The incident occurred on 10 April 2022, when a BlaBlaCar bus, with 30 passengers, travelling from Paris to Amsterdam, crashed into the concrete safety barrier on the E19 motorway in Schoten (province of Antwerp).
A 29-year-old Colombian man and a 17-year-old French woman lost their lives in the accident, and thirteen other passengers were taken to the hospital with various injuries.
The sentence in the initial case was lighter: 30 months in prison, with 18 months suspended, an €8,000 fine, with €3,000 suspended, and a 10-year driving ban.
The prosecution appealed the sentence, resulting in the harsher verdict.
