Chayenne Van Aarle, the 23-year-old reigning Miss Belgium, was seriously injured in a road accident on the Antwerp-Ghent Motorway yesterday afternoon. The woman’s car ended up underneath a truck’s trailer near Kruibeke and needed to be cut free by the emergency services. Though seriously injured she is not flighting for her life.
The accident happened around 1:30PM on the Antwerp-bound carriageway when Chayenne drove into the back of a traffic jam. Once freed from the wreck she was rushed to Middelheim Hospital in Antwerp.
Darline Devos, organiser of the Miss Belgium beauty pageant, says Chayenne is not in a critical condition. “When you see the photos, you would expect the worst, but I heard she is not fighting for her life. It’s such a relief. She has many bruises and her eye socket is fractured. The most important thing is that she is not fighting for her life”.
It was Chayenne’s last week as Miss Belgium. The final of the next Miss Belgium competition takes place in De Panne on Saturday. “The final will go ahead, but probably without Chayenne. It’s such a shame, because she really is a show animal and was really looking forward to it” says Darline.
“Chayenne was supposed to open the show with a song. We’ve made a video clip and can broadcast that, but it’s not the same as a live performance. She was also to serve as the backstage presenter because she is totally bilingual. We still need to find a solution for that!”
Chayenne was also supposed to hand over her crown as is the custom. Darline will have to stand in as she did during the pandemic.