Wibe Bijls (25) and Jessy Dewildeman (24) were on a friends trip to Rome, the capital of Italy, when both lost their lives in a tragic collision on Saturday evening, 8 October.
According to the Belgian newspaper the news magazine they sat their friends in a taxi on the A24 motorway when they witnessed a car accident.
I stopped by to help
The driver stopped the car and the young women went out onto the street to assist those involved when they themselves were shot and killed.
The driver (45) escaped the scene on foot, but was later identified by police using a dashboard camera.
Women are said to have died instantly.
Here drop the bomb
According to the Italian newspaper To the Republic the event took place near Tor Cervara, on the eastern outskirts of Rome.
– The fact that he wanted to help people he didn’t know – in a foreign country – says it all about my sister. Jessy would help anyone. And she really went through the fire for the people she loved, Dewildeman’s brother Jason tells the newspaper.
– I feel a deep sadness
Bijls worked as a cook in a restaurant in Menen, West Flanders, Belgium, while her friend Dewildeman worked as a housekeeper.
According to information provided to La Repubblica, Biljs was 16 weeks pregnant.
– Forgot how it happened
Roberto Gualtieri, mayor of Rome, writes in a post on Facebook that all Rome weeps with the mourning of her friends:
– I feel a deep sadness after the death of Jessy Dewildeman and Wibe Bijls. The two Belgian girls were killed in a terrible traffic accident on the A24, while trying to help an injured person. Rome sympathizes with families after this terrible tragedy.
Before the accident late Saturday evening, friends had been in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City.
The carabinieri of Rome investigate the episode.
