Following Sunday's deadly bus accident, in which two were killed and five critically injured, the driver who tested positive for drugs has now been arrested.
On Sunday afternoon, the bus deviated from its lane and crashed into a barrier and overturned, resulting in the E19 motorway from Antwerp to Breda being blocked near Schoten.
The 35-year-old French driver of the BlaBlaCar travel coach has been arrested by the investigating judge, the Antwerp public prosecutor told Belga News Agency.
The public prosecutor had requested the arrest of the man after his drug test results came back positive. The suspect was already known in France for drug-related offences.
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A further investigation is ongoing to reveal whether drug use was indeed the cause of the accident, according to Minister of Justice Vincent Van Quickenborne, who on Tuesday announced police would be ramping up the number of drug tests that will be carried out among drivers due to an increase in the number of people who abuse drugs before driving.
“The number of road accidents in which drivers drive under the influence of drugs is increasing every year. In 2019, there were 889 accidents due to the use of drugs behind the wheel and despite the corona measures, this rose further to 913 accidents in 2020,” Van Quickenborne said.
