The Christmas lights had barely been switched on in Sainte-Anne when a car ploughed into the people queuing for food a few steps from the square. Nineteen pedestrians were injured on Friday, 5 December 2025, in the Guadeloupe town on the eastern end of Grande-Terre.
Le Parisien reported that the crash happened around 7:45 p.m. on Place Schoelcher, in the town centre. The group that was hit had been buying food at a bokit food truck, some twenty metres from where the Christmas illuminations had been launched earlier in the evening. Sub-prefect Jean-François Moniotte of Pointe-à-Pitre told AFP that 19 people were hurt. He put the number of children at seven, though Guadeloupe la 1ere counted six, and the local rector later said five of the injured were schoolchildren who had come for the festivities.
Three in critical condition, none in danger of dying
Three people, among them a 10-year-old boy, were classed as absolute emergencies at first. Moniotte said none faced a life-threatening situation on Friday night, and by the early hours of Saturday the wounded were rated as relative emergencies only. A crisis cell was set up and the mass-casualty plan known as NOVI was triggered. More than 40 firefighters, at least twenty gendarmes and the emergency medical service rushed to the square. Patients were taken to the mother-and-child unit and emergency department at the Pointe-à-Pitre/Abymes university hospital, and to the Eaux Claires clinic at Baie-Mahault, according to the head of the Guadeloupe Samu, Patrick Portecop.
The driver, a 45-year-old man, was found to be under the influence of alcohol and cannabis, the sub-prefect said. A source close to the case told Le Parisien he had to be pulled out of the scene after nearly being lynched by people nearby. He was taken into custody and was due to appear in a fast-track court hearing with the decision on his case deferred.
A town in shock, and questions about barriers
Around 300 people had gathered on the square that evening, Guadeloupe la 1ere reported. Eriberthe Trésor, who runs the food truck the car struck, was still in tears the next day. “I saw the car hit everybody, and then people on the ground, everywhere. It was horrible,” she said. Of the crowd, she added: “They did not even have time to sing Christmas carols.”
Some residents wondered about a mechanical failure. Others pointed at security. “It is not normal that a car could get into a pedestrian zone during a gathering like this. There should have been barriers,” one woman living nearby said. A witness recalled that children had been about to sing and said the square should have been secured.
Rector Gabriele Fioni announced listening cells in the affected schools to give pupils and staff psychological support. Bishop Philippe Guiougou issued a statement saying the consequences “could have been even more serious” and condemned irresponsible behaviour behind the wheel.
An investigation is under way. Early reports from other outlets that ten people had died were not borne out by the French accounts, which listed injuries only.
Sources
- Ten dead as car rams into Christmas crowd in Guadeloupe; visuals surface – IBTimes India
- Car rams into Christmas crowd in France’s Guadeloupe, killing ten and injuring several | Mathrubhumi English
- 19 blesses par une voiture folle a Sainte-Anne – Outre-mer La 1ere
- Guadeloupe : une voiture fonce sur la foule, 19 blesses dont 6 enfants – Le Parisien
