Tijani Belaid Involved in Car Crash on New Year’s Day

Terrible news out of Tunis as it has been reported that Tijani Belaid lost control of his vehicle while returning home from Sousse at 7:00 am this morning (Tunisian time). His car went onto the other side of the road and crashed into another one with a family of six inside it. Worse still is that the mother and one of her daughters are dead and the rest of the family is in critical condition. There are rumors Tijani had a friend in his car who is dead as well. Meanwhile, it has been confirmed by Mosaique FM that the Tunisian international has only suffered facial lacerations requiring stitches. Besides that, it is maintained that he is in stable condition. Rest in peace to those who lost their lives in this crash. It’s really heartbreaking.

The fact that this happened on New Years brings up the inevitable questions of alcohol and whether it had a role. We will wait for the investigation but for now my heart goes out to everyone affected by this tragedy and I hope that Belaid will recover from this blow that is surely going to affect him adversely and stay with him for the rest of his life. It’s also scary because if he was in fact drinking or even if he was the one who made the mistake and was sober, he will be going to jail. It’s just so sad… Not the way to start 2008.

Update

According to Infosfoot, Tijani was not at fault in the accident which caused the death of three people, including his passenger. They report that another driver who was possibly inebriated lost control of his vehicle and collided with Belaid’s car, killing his friend and then sending him into opposing traffic which is when he hit the family of six. I really hope that this report is true. It doesn’t make the loss of life any better but it definitely would decrease the amount of guilt Belaid would have had to live with. Not to mention, it would prevent him from going to jail. I’ll be sure to bring you more updates as they become available. We’ll probably have to wait for the findings of the investigation as alternate reports from Le Quotidien and and Le Temps claim that a truck flipped on the other side of the road and a girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time ran across the highway so as not to get hit by it. Unfortunately, Belaid ended up being the one to crash into her as she attempted to flee. It’s also disputed as to whether or not he was driving. These inconsistencies are strange to say the least. So basically, nothing is clear at the moment. Whatever the case, I’m sure Tijani is experiencing shock.