A suicidal driver slammed his car into the motorcycle escort of the Qatari ambassador to Belgium today, police have said.

Some eight officers were injured in the incident, which took place outside of the royal palace in Laeken, on the edge of the Belgian capital, where the police were waiting for the Qatari ambassador, Ali Bin Jassim Al Thani.

Prosecutors are planning to charge the driver, reported to be 39 years old, with attempted murder, BBC reports.

He allegedly told the Brussels and federal police that he wanted to commit suicide and that he slammed into the policeman in a “gesture of hopelessness.”

The Qatari ambassador was inside the palace presenting his credentials to King Albert II when the attack happened, a spokesman said.