Driver Crashes Through the Terminal, Onto the Tarmac in High Speed Chase

A high-speed chase in Lyon, France, ended on the Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport (LYS) tarmac on Monday morning. Witnesses state that the driver crashed through a gate and terminal building and drove onto a runway before attempting to flee on foot. Authorities arrested the man at the scene and halted flights for part of the day.

Passengers waiting to take off from Lyon’s Saint-Exupéry Airport on Monday morning witnessed and, in some cases, shot video of the end of a high-speed car chase.

A man had been driving a gray Mercedes opposite traffic on the highway, leading to a police chase. The driver then reportedly crashed through a security barrier in the airport’s Terminal One, “making a deafening noise in the process,” as one eyewitness reported to BFM TV.

That was not the end of the chase, however, as the car then sped onto the tarmac, pursued by several police and emergency vehicles. In videos shared by passengers with a view of the runway, the driver is seen to careen over a grassy embankment and then to abandon the car and attempt to flee on foot. The dozens of police officers called to the scene closed in and soon arrested the man.

Most flights out of the airport were grounded for the remainder of the afternoon for safety reasons. French authorities have not yet released the identity of the driver, the cause of the chase, nor what charges will be brought against him. Surprisingly, no injuries were reported at the scene.

[Photo: Shutterstock]