Moroccan Lawyer Admits Falling Asleep at Wheel in Belgian Car Crash

"I fell asleep. I just had too much work. Three cases to manage. Doing a podcast for a good cause. I thought I could handle it all, but I fell asleep at the wheel that day," Omar Souidi explained on Monday in the "De tafel van vier" show on Play4, specifying that he had later been tried for hit-and-run. However, he claims to have alerted the emergency call center after the accident and given his identity to the police and the insurance as the driver of the vehicle that caused the accident.

The accident occurred on March 11 in the municipality of Schilde where the 38-year-old lawyer resides. Having dozed off at the wheel of his Land Rover while driving at high speed, he collided with two parked cars, a Land Rover Discovery and a Mercedes GLS. The two vehicles, as well as Souidi’s, are irreparable.

Witnesses saw a man, later identified as Souidi, get out of the car and flee. But during the police investigation, Souidi’s wife, Charlotte, told the agents that she was the one who caused the accident. Later, Souidi’s lawyer, Me Frédéric Thiebaut, announced that it was his client who was at the wheel of the vehicle at the time of the events, stressing that he had not consumed alcohol or drugs. A claim that cannot be verified, as a lot of time has elapsed since the accident.