Belgium: A Romanian truck driver was killed by a manhole cover thrown from a bridge

Five young men will be brought to Belgian justice on Tuesday as part of an investigation into the “assassination” opened after a manhole cover was thrown from a highway bridge, killing a Romanian truck driver, the Namur prosecutor’s office said on Monday. ).

The incidents occurred during the night from Friday to Saturday on the E42 motorway between Liège and Namur. Starting from a bridge spanning the highway near Huron, five young men are suspected of throwing a manhole cover hanging on a belt into the void.

The plate penetrated the windshield of a truck, killing its driver, a Romanian man, instantly. The driver's partner, who was in the cabin next to him, was able to stop the heavy goods vehicle, which avoided leaving the road.

Among the five suspects are two minors and three “young adults.”

According to local media, the young men used nitrous oxide capsules, nicknamed “laughing gas” for its psychological effects. Information that the Namur Prosecutor's Office did not wish to comment on Monday evening.

A prosecution spokesman contacted by Agence France-Presse announced that “interviews with the suspects (by the police) are underway, and there will then be various investigative tasks ordered by the judge.”

She added that among the five suspects, who were all arrested on Sunday, were two minors and three “young adults.” They all come from the town of Andin, which is not far from Heron where the events took place. On Tuesday, they will be presented to an investigating judge (for the adults) and to a juvenile judge (for the other two), who will have to decide whether to place them in detention.

The Romanian driver worked for the Spanish transport company Castelo Trans.