Nearly $110 worth of diesel vanished, and a major scare to boot. For Christiane Compère, a Lincent resident, returning to work turned into a nightmare. On Wednesday, September 24, 2026, her Dacia Duster diesel SUV was parked as usual along Albert I Street in Herstal. She had just started her shift as an administrative staff member at the Polytechnic School. When she retrieved her car, the tank had been punctured in broad daylight to siphon off its fuel.
Around 3:30 p.m., a colleague spotted a large puddle beneath the SUV and a strong smell of diesel. “She smelled it and called me.” “I grabbed my laptop and went down in a hurry to see what was going on,” Christiane Compère recounts to Sudinfo. Under the car, the plastic fuel tank was leaking fuel through a neat hole. Nearly $110 worth of fuel vanished onto the pavement. “What kind of world do we live in?” she exclaimed, summing up her bafflement with a line: “People are going crazy.” A stark reminder that no one is truly safe from this kind of fuel theft.
In Herstal, Christiane’s Dacia Duster fuel tank punctured in broad daylight
On site, Christiane discovered that her Dacia Duster‘s tank had been punctured from underneath. The car was parked along the curb, in full daylight. The street sees students and school staff passing by. The thieves did not bother to open the fuel cap. They directly targeted the plastic tank, easier to puncture than old metal tanks. In just a few minutes, all or part of the fill ended up on the ground. The home‑to‑work commute turned into an expensive, destabilizing ordeal for this administrative employee.
This method involves puncturing the fuel tank from underneath the vehicle. It has been spreading for several months. Long focused on trucks and isolated parking lots, thieves are now targeting passenger cars as well. We’re even seeing cases in mid-sized towns in broad daylight. The ongoing rise in diesel prices makes each fill-up much more profitable to divert. The price per liter often runs around €2 to €2.39 in France. Some transport operators have already seen hundreds of liters disappear in a single night. In one case, the total damage for a single company had climbed to about €16,000 since December.
Fuel theft via punctured tank: costs, risks, and quick reflexes to adopt
For victims, the bill runs far beyond the value of the stolen fuel. Replacing a punctured tank typically costs between €500 and €1,200. The amount depends on the model, the component, and labor. A nurse received a quote of about €1,230. The hole had been punched in the tank of her relatively new car. Professionals also note that driving with a damaged tank is dangerous: fuel can leak near the exhaust line, potentially causing a fire. There is also a real risk of soil contamination.
On the insurance side, the situation is often unfavorable to drivers. The stolen fuel is rarely reimbursed. Policies mainly cover physical damage classified under theft or vandalism. With a hole in the tank, coverage depends on the guarantees purchased. Any applicable deductible is often the driver’s responsibility. When confronted with a puddle of fuel under the car, specialists advise a few simple steps:
- do not start the vehicle and keep any flame or cigarette away from the area;
- contact roadside assistance for a tow to a shop rather than attempting to drive;
- take photos, file a police report, and promptly notify your insurer of the claim.
For Christiane, the emotional shock adds to the prospect of having to fix this Dacia Duster’s tank. All for a few tens of liters of diesel. And other drivers, in Belgium as in France, are also encountering this kind of theft. They often notice it right when they’re simply thinking about getting home.
