On 31 October 2017 eight people were killed when a driver drove his Ford Super Duty pick-up truck into a group of mainly foreign cyclists in New York. Two Americans, five Argentinians and a Belgian woman, Ann-Laure Decadt, were killed. Two Belgians were also injured including a woman who lost two limbs.
Sayfullo Saipov, a young accountant from Uzbekistan, is now standing trial. Surviving Belgian victims of the attack as well as relatives of the deceased have travelled to New York for the trial and are giving evidence.
For Alexander Naessens, the widower of Ann-Laure Decadt, the Belgian woman who was killed this is an emotional week. For the first time since her death Alexander visited the place where his wife died during a cycle ride while on a family trip to New York: “Standing here releases strong emotions. To me this looks like an extremely banal place to die. That makes it so difficult. For me, what happened here, has always seemed a little abstract. Now it really comes home to me”.
At the trial Alexander was confronted with Sayfullo Saipov for a first time: “I never spent much time dwelling on the attacker. I was above all dealing with my grief. But feelings of anger surface when I hear his defence say he still believes in what he did and doesn’t feel any guilt”.
Ann-Laure’s mum, Lieve Decadt, was there when Sayfullo Saipov drove into a group of cyclists. She too is now in New York: “It’s dreadful that a young mother, the mother of a 3-year-old and a 3-month baby, is killed. If I could I would take her place immediately”.