On Friday morning, a young Belgian woman lost control of her vehicle on a slippery road and died after crashing into a parked lorry, Het Laatste Nieuws reports.
According to the Flemish daily, the 19-year-old woman had just dropped her mother off at the airport and was on her way home when the crash happened.
After losing contact with her daughter, the mother called her phone, but the call was answered by police, who delivered the tragic news.
The accident occurred at around 04:00 on route N16, on a bridge over route E17.
The woman's vehicle, travelling towards Sint-Niklaas, collided with a stationary articulated lorry. The impact was severe, with the driver's side taking the full force of the collision. The victim died at the scene, according to HLN.
Witnesses who stopped to help were reportedly unable to do anything beyond alerting emergency services.
They reported that the road surface was extremely slippery due to freezing conditions.
According to HLN, A 22-year-old lorry driver who passed the scene said he attempted to stop but felt his vehicle sliding on the icy road.
Unable to brake safely, he drove on before returning via a nearby junction to assist.
"Once I got back, it was clear the situation was very serious. The driver was trapped, so we couldn’t start resuscitation," he said to HLN.
Emergency services arrived shortly afterwards and began resuscitation efforts, but these were unsuccessful.
Local police in Sint-Niklaas have appealed for witnesses who were first on the scene and left before emergency services arrived to come forward.
They may have seen the crash or captured dashcam footage.
