The agonistic events of the Dakar serve to ward off fear but it is from the start of the race in Saudi Arabia that there is a strong fear in the bivouac after the explosion of an assistance car of the Sodicars Racing team in which he was seriously injured in the legs. the pilot Philippe Boutron. It was an attack that took place on December 30 in Jeddah near the Hotel Donatello.
The ASO, in collaboration with the local authorities, subsequently reinforced security at the bivouacs by raising the threshold of attention, while the French national anti-terrorism prosecutor opened an investigation yesterday, formalizing that it is investigating for “… attempted murder following an episode of a terrorist matrix “.
The explosion, which is also being investigated by the Saudi police, occurred in the assistance car of the French team, which was carrying five other people along with driver Boutron. The transalpine suffered serious leg injuries that required emergency surgery and was then flown to France to the Percy military hospital in Paris.
Although the race organizers continue to minimize the incident by talking about a malicious act, the Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor has entrusted the investigation to the Directorate General for Internal Security.
After the accident, Boutron’s co-driver Mayeul Barbet said: “Philippe was behind the wheel and a bomb that had been placed in the underside of the car exploded 500 meters from the hotel. At that moment there were six of us in the car and we were shocked and didn’t move at first ”.
“Then the car started to burn and Philippe asked me to go help him out of the seat because he could feel his legs.”
The French Foreign Ministry has made it clear that all evidence that will be collected in Jeddah will be examined to determine what exactly caused the explosion.
“An investigation is underway in Arabia to determine the cause of the explosion – confirmed the French government agency – but no hypothesis of a crime has been ruled out”.
#Dakar #French #antiterrorism #investigation #attack #Jeddah