Mayor investigates bike path

2 May 2007

BRUSSELS – Diest Mayor Jan Laurys (Flemish Christian Democrats CD&V) will commission an investigation into the safety of the bicycle path between Schoonaerde in Schaffen and the ring road around Diest.

This is the bicycle path that missing 18-year-old Annick Van Uytsel presumably used in the early hours on Saturday morning. A number of residents say the path is poorly lit and have doubts about its safety.

“We were surprised at the comments because we have never received any criticism before that there are problems with the safety of the path. It is about 200 to 300 metres long and crosses the Diest-Hasselt train tracks. At the moment we are focusing on searching for the girl, but we will certainly look into whether more lights are needed, for example,” Laurys said.

Subject: Belgian news