Overview
- The collision happened Tuesday morning at about 08:08 in Buggenhout when a passenger train struck a minibus carrying seven children, an escort and a driver, leaving two pupils, the driver and the escort dead and others injured.
- Infrabel, the rail infrastructure manager, says the level crossing barriers were down and the traffic light was red and it cites technical camera images that show those conditions.
- The train was reported to be travelling at about 120 km/h and the driver attempted emergency braking as the formation neared the next station about one kilometre away, and SNCB said no train passengers were injured.
- Police railway units, the public prosecutor, a traffic expert and the forensic laboratory are working at the scene and a judicial investigation has been opened to establish the sequence and causes of the crash.
- The minibus was operating as a subcontracted vehicle for De Lijn and carried children from special-education centres which will focus scrutiny on transport arrangements for vulnerable pupils and on level-crossing safety nationwide.