A train crashed into a school minivan at a level-crossing in the Belgian town of Buggenhout yesterday, killing four people including two special needs pupils, authorities said.
As well as the 12- and 15-year-old students, the crash killed the minibus driver aged 49, a female chaperone aged 27, and seriously injured five other schoolboys, said the local prosecutor’s office which opened an investigation.
At the scene, a white minivan lay on its side near the track, its front badly crumpled.
Police spokesperson An Berger said the crossing’s safety barriers were down when the accident happened. It was unclear how the van got through the barriers and into the path of the train, whose 100-odd passengers did not suffer any major injuries.
An autopsy will be carried out on the body of the minivan driver, the prosecutor’s office said, while the train driver tested negative for drugs and alcohol.
Buggenhout’s mayor, Geert Hermans, said books of condolence would be opened. “We ask that the necessary restraint and composure be shown for the bereaved,” he said.
Local transport operator De Lijn said the vehicle, operated through a sub-contractor, had no mechanical issues and the driver was medically fit, fully trained and had a clean record.
“You have to be careful (as a bus driver). It can happen to anyone,” Dirk Vandevelde, a colleague of the deceased driver, told Reuters. “It will probably be an unfortunate accident ... with a tragic outcome.”
The accident occurred early yesterday near Buggenhout station, about 23km north of Brussels, when the vehicle was carrying seven pupils to their school.
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