The French pilot Philippe Boutron was seriously injured in the leg in the explosion of an explosive device placed under the assistance vehicle of his team.
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Thursday, December 30, the explosion of a machine located under a support vehicle of the Sodicars team caused the serious injury to the calf of buggy driver Philippe Boutron, engaged in the Dakar 2022 in Saudi Arabia. A Saudi security service investigation is underway and security around the rally has been tightened.
While on his way to scrutineering before the start of the Dakar 2022, the assistance vehicle of the French team Sodicars was hit by the explosion of a machine located under the car, near a gas station. . According to information from franceinfo: sport, the car’s airbags would all have been triggered and the explosion caused a hole in the vehicle’s floor.
“A Team Sodicars assistance vehicle, leaving the hotel, was suddenly immobilized, surely an explosion, and the vehicle caught fire. There were six people on board, among them one injured, Philippe Boutron, who has a very serious leg injury. He was operated on, today he is better and he should return to France in the next few days. We are obviously thinking about him at the moment “, said David Castera, race director, in comments to be found in full on France 4 from 7:30 p.m. on the show Dakar. Philippe Boutron was to participate in his ninth Dakar and had finished 33rd in the last edition. He has also been the president of the US Orleans football club since 2011.
“In this context, the Saudi authorities have mobilized and are carrying out a very thorough investigation. Pending a response, we cannot exclude a malicious act, so we decided with the authorities to very necessarily increase safety measures on the rally “David Castera added.