During the night from Saturday to Sunday, around 4 a.m., the car took the 988 departmental road, went along a large curve then, for a reason still unknown, fits into a plane treethese trees with thick trunks which adorn certain roads in the region. Pablo, Imrane, Youssef, Anis and Lorenzo, aged 16 to 21, have lost his life this weekend in this violent road accident in Gaillac (Tarn).
According to the first elements, everyone had just spent the evening celebrating the birthday of one of them, the “nice Youssef”, tells us a friend of the family, who refuses to say more “for respect” for those close to him. » According to her, there “was no alcohol” that evening, “three of the young people were Muslims”, she insists.
Imrane, “a cute boy”
The gang of Imrane, Youssef, Anis and Lorenzo, “good guys”, were well known to the inhabitants of Gaillac and its region, friends tell La Dépêche du Midi. On Sunday morning, when news of the tragedy spread, families in the city shuddered with anguish. Was there one of them among the victims? “When the parents heard about the accident, they all went to the rooms to see if we had returned safely,” these young people confide on a daily basis. That’s how we knew and quickly understood who the victims were. »
Imrane was one of the youngest in this group of friends. Last summer, the teenager worked as an apprentice in a restaurant in downtown Albi. One of his former colleagues describes a “cute boy, super shy and shy at first glance”.
But the young man had managed to prove himself and overcome the “bad boy” image that he had tended to put forward on social networks, she said. “He worked really well. He knew his job well. He was very involved, was never late, continues his ex-colleague. He was doing well, so the boss ended up relying on him. »
Pablo, “he was my favorite”
“They all worked, they were hard workers,” confirm Gaillac’s friends to La Dépêche du Midi. But they explain that they don’t know Pablo very well. At 16 years old, the young Marseillais arrived in the Tarn from Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) a few weeks ago for a holiday with his uncle, Matisse, his cousin, tells us. This 22-year-old father, who considered Pablo “like a little brother”, describes a “funny and generous” young man: “He was my favorite”. It was Pablo who, in a few weeks, should have hosted his cousin’s wedding party: “He was very generous, he made everyone laugh. He always exuded the joy of life, he was a great person. We would have spent the whole evening with him at the helm…”
“He was full of energy, he liked to put on a show”, say the parents of this teenager, “very family”. Those close to him also remember his determination: “He always achieved his goals, as soon as he wanted something, he obtained it. »
On his new life in Tarn? When he returned to Marseille, Pablo didn’t really open up to his cousin, who assumed that the young man had found a work-study job there. “When he came home, he would go play football. He was an OM fan. He could have succeeded in football,” imagines Matisse, who thinks back to this final of a small tournament where the young Pablo, then aged “8 or 9”, finished top scorer. His parents smile: “He was a bad player, but he knew how to savor victories”
Football was also Lorenzo’s passion. His former club, US Albi, paid tribute to him on Instagram: “Lorenzo left his mark on our club with his passion, his talent and his team spirit. He leaves behind the memory of a generous, devoted and promising young man.”
Two prize pools for the families of the victims
Two prize pools online were launched to help families finance their children’s funerals. At the end of the day on Wednesday, that dedicated to Imrane, Youssef, Anis and Lorenzo, exceeded 10,000 euros. It was not possible to know the amount of the jackpot opened to support Pablo’s family.
An investigation has been opened to find out the exact circumstances of this accident. It is also a matter of clearly identifying, using DNA, the bodies discovered in the vehicle which burst into flames upon impact with the plane tree. When they arrived at the scene early on Sunday morning, firefighters discovered to their horror that four of the young people had died in the burning car. A fifth victim, ejected from the passenger compartment in the impact and found several meters from the car, was quickly identified. In cardio-respiratory arrest, she ultimately could not be resuscitated. The results of the DNA analyzes should arrive by Friday.