September 12, 1963, at 6.30 pm Bringing thirteen workers home, a van drives on the A31 from Talange towards Metz. A wholesale grocery truck follows 150 yards away. This section was inaugurated the previous week. Near the entrance to the city, a passenger car, with a family on board, overtakes and arrives at the height of the van which it hangs on the side. The car stops a little further. The van, out of control, crosses the slide on the right, makes a flight of 25 meters before crashing, wheels in the air, in the deep ditch.
The driver of the grocery truck stops, goes down to find that the workers are lying lifeless in the passenger compartment. He got back on the motorway, stopped a 2CV and asked the driver to go and alert the CRS 71 post which had been installed a few days ago at the entrance to the A31, near the Thionville bridge.
In an hour, the emergency services cleared all traces of the accident, the wounded taken to hospital will be out of the woods.
For unintentional injuries and drunk driving, the driver is sentenced to two months’ imprisonment, a fine of 50 francs, a fine of 100 francs, and a withdrawal of his driving license for one year.
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