A 31-year-old woman from Lier, Belgium, died in a traffic collision in New Zealand on March 3rd, according to reports. The incident has deeply affected her family and friends, highlighting the tragic risks associated with international travel.
Victoria Docx was traveling with a friend in a rented camper when it collided with a passenger vehicle on State Highway 1 in Marlborough, New Zealand. Docx was a passenger in the camper and did not survive the crash. Her friend remains in a coma, and another person in the passenger vehicle also died at the scene, RTV reports.
The pair began their road trip on February 20th, picking up the camper in Christchurch with plans to travel north. Emergency services responded to the crash with four helicopters, three ambulances, and a fire crew. Three other people were transported to the hospital in critical condition, and another succumbed to their injuries later.
Paul Verbeeck, Victoria’s uncle and the former mayor of Nijlen, described receiving news of the accident as devastating. “They had received a few messages from her. She let them grasp, for example, that they had arrived safely,” he said. “But then they suddenly received that news. It feels as if the sky has fallen on their heads.”
Verbeeck noted that Victoria was an experienced traveler, having previously journeyed through Japan and the Azores. New Zealand was her latest destination. The process of repatriating her remains is complicated and requires paperwork to be sent to the Australian embassy in Canberra.
The loss of Charlotte Marie (31), who was traveling with Victoria, is also being mourned. According to Gazet van Antwerpen, she “was full of love.”
Separately, Charlotte (32) had been considering emigrating to New Zealand with her partner, but was struggling with the decision, according to a LinkedIn post. Her friend frequently visited New Zealand, and Charlotte felt a strong pull to live there, while also finding it difficult to leave her mother and current life behind.
