Police trace lorry driver suspected of running over yellow vest protester

Photo: Depositphotos.com

Belgian police have identified a Dutch lorry driver who is suspected of deliberately running over a ‘yellow vest’ protester at a motorway blockade near the border.

The 50-year-old demonstrator died at the scene of the protest in Visé, between Maastricht and Liège on Friday evening. Between 20 and 30 protesters blocked the motorway and allowed cars to pass through but not lorries, but one Dutch-registered lorry refused to stop and knocked down the victim.

Belgian police arrested another Dutch lorry driver on Saturday evening in what turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. The man from Dongen was recorded driving across the border into the Netherlands immediately after the incident in a lorry that was similar to the one involved in the incident.

Further enquiries revealed that the lorry in question had turned off the motorway in Belgium and crossed the border by a different route. Police traced the vehicle via the numberplate given by eyewitnesses and released the other driver, who had been held in custody since Friday.

The suspect, from Landgraaf in Limburg, has not been arrested, NOS reported.

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