With a recent past in Italian soccer Lazio, Sofian Kiyine signed in September for OH Leuven in Belgium, a club that will now lose him for a few days. And it is that in the last hours the institution published a statement in which it revealed that the 25-year-old Moroccan soccer player had suffered several fractures as a result of a brutal accident. Shortly after, the shocking images were known.
The Belgian midfielder's vehicle blew up in the southern town of Flémalle, near Liège. It was around 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, when he was driving more than 200 kilometers on a highway that had a speed limit of 90 km/h at the scene of the accident. Kiyine collided with a roundabout, was thrown and crashed violently into a gym.
For seconds, it did not end in tragedy. Just "eleven seconds" before the accident, there were girls playing sports on the basketball court that ended up destroyed by the violence of the impact. None suffered injuries, but they did hear the thunderous sound.
In this regard, the mayoress of the municipality, Sophie Thémont, told the newspaper DH Sports: "We have come close to a catastrophe."
Images of the interior of the sports center that circulated on social networks showed the destruction with the car turned to one side in the middle of the field. There is also a hole in the wall where the car entered. And an accumulation of rubble slid throughout the game sector. A movie scene. But even more shocking was the recording of the exterior taken by a security camera.
The filming shows the black Mercedes Benz driving at high speed until it flies through the air about 60 meters until it crashes into the Louis Melin sports venue, which housed basketball and gymnastics clubs.
Fortunately, the footballer's life is not in danger, despite having suffered several fractures, OH Leuven reported in a statement.
"Sofian Kiyine was taken to the nearest hospital emergency department where further examinations are underway and is not in a life-threatening condition. Fortunately, no other vehicle or person was involved in the accident," the club said. this Friday.
Peter Willems, CEO of the Belgian top division soccer team and running in the middle of the table, said they were all "very shocked and shocked" by the situation. "Certainly there is talk of speeding, but no one knows exactly what it was. The exact circumstances of the accident are not yet known," he slipped.
"We are waiting for the investigation. We also want to talk to Sofian about what exactly happened and then we will see the next steps. He was very lucky. We realize that it could have ended much worse. I myself am a father of children of that age, so they don't have to explain anything to me. I understand perfectly", he concluded.
Kiyine returned to Belgian football from Lazio and has a contract with OH Leuven until 2026. At the beginning of his career, he had been with Standard Liège until he later wore the shirts of various Calcio teams: Chievo Verona, Salernitana, Venezia and Lazio.
