Four people were killed and five children were injured when a school minibus collided with a train near Buggenhout in Flanders just after 8am on Tuesday, turning a routine morning trip into a fatal crash at a level crossing.
Among the dead were two children aged 15 and 12, their 27-year-old chaperone and the 49-year-old driver of the van. The five other children on board were taken to hospital with serious injuries and were said to be in stable condition. The train, carrying about 100 people on its way from Bruges to Buggenhout, had no injured passengers, though one person was in shock and the others were evacuated to a local fire station.
The crash is being searched now because of the children involved and because it happened at a crossing that should have been protected. The bus was reported to have tried to cross despite lowered barriers and a flashing red light, while the train driver applied the emergency brakes but could not avoid the collision. Infrabel said it did not know how the accident could have happened, and police together with the public prosecutor’s office are investigating.
The children were travelling to a special educational needs school in the town, about 14 miles (22km) north of Brussels. Kurt Moens said the crash turned what could have been a beautiful spring morning into a pitch-black day, and added that the accident in Buggenhout affected everyone deeply. Jean-Luc Crucke said his first thoughts were with the victims, the injured and their families, while Bart De Wever said he was deeply moved by the horrific accident.
The collision also lands in a country that has been trying to reduce the risk at rail crossings for years. Infrabel says it removed 450 level crossings over the past 21 years, leaving about 1,600 in place, but Belgium still recorded 30 level-crossing accidents in 2024, with five deaths and nine serious injuries. For the families waiting on news in Buggenhout, the question is not about the trend line. It is why a school minibus entered the crossing at all.
Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that Europe was grieving, but the next facts that matter will come from the investigation, which has to explain how a crossing with barriers and warning lights still ended in four deaths and five badly injured children.
