Lawyer wants independent investigation into Pinkpop fatal crash

An independent investigation must be done into a fatal hit-and-run accident at the Pinkpop music festival in Landgraaf in June, according to personal injury lawyer Nino Pennino. A group of festival goers were hit by a car while they were sitting in the street. One man was killed, three others were injured.

The independent investigation must include a reconstruction of the traffic situation on the night of the fatal accident, Pennino, who is representing the victims of this accident, said to De Limburger. This must reveal exactly what actions the municipality and police took during the night of the fatal accident after the festival ended. The lawyer doesn't want to request the investigation himself. The police or municipality of Landgraaf should do that, he said, calling it a "question of social responsibility".

The 34-year-old motorist, Danny S., said that he was surprised when he hit the group of people. He did not see them sitting in the road and could therefore not brake or swerve to avoid them, he told the police. He left the scene of the accident in a daze, and later turned himself in to the police.

S.'s statement is at odds with what two police patrols, who passed the group half an hour earlier, said, according to Pennino. According to the police patrols, the festival goers were visible from afar because the road was well lit. The Limburg police therefore concluded that their own actions were correct, according to the newspaper.

Pennino questions this. "The police states: the road was open to traffic, we did not do anything, but we find no reproach", he said. "Things went horribly wrong here. Let the Dutch Safety Board look into it, like in Haaksbergen, after the fatal accident with the monster truck."

The police sees no reason to request another investigation, as there are already two investigations running on top of the criminal investigation, according to the newspaper. The municipality of Landgraaf refused to respond to the newspaper before the city council was informed. 

Pennino already formally held the municipality, Buro Pinkpop and the insurer of the driver liable for the damages his clients suffered due to injury, death and trauma.