The streets of the village are empty, the roads to get there barely cleared of snow this Thursday morning… A thick layer of snow covers Châtelneuf who wakes up with the terrible news. Natacha, 19, is one of four young high school students who died in the terrible accident near Lake Chalain. The day before, at the end of the afternoon, his car slipped on a thick layer of ice, left the road, then fell into the lake, before being submerged. Firefighters managed to pull the bodies out of the water.
Bernadette has lived in the Haut-Jura village for more than 50 years. She knows Natacha well, saw her play, grow up, until she went to boarding school at Paul-Emile Victor high school in Champagnole. When she learns of the death of her “little neighbor”, the shock is violent.
The solidarity of the Jura village
“I went to see her as a baby, because we received the announcement… I put myself in the place of all these poor parents… You lose your child… I will say a prayer this night for them”, says the retiree, voice trembling. In front of Bernadette’s, many cars parked in front of Natacha’s family house. A family settled here for several generations.
For his part, the mayor of Châtelneuf, Bruno Ragot, wanted to take the lead. When he learned of Natacha’s disappearance, he sent an email to all the inhabitants of the town. “Now we have to take care of this family, the brothers and sisters. She was a young girl full of life, full of talents…”, explains the aedile.
After the time of the investigation, will surely come the time of the tributes, which many hope to accompany the families in their mourning.