{"id":17452,"date":"2026-05-26T12:31:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T12:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/17452\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T12:31:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T12:31:28","slug":"4-people-killed-as-train-slams-into-school-minibus-in-belgium-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/17452\/","title":{"rendered":"4 people killed as train slams into school minibus in Belgium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2014 A train slammed into a school minibus in Belgium on Tuesday, killing at least four people including two children, according to authorities.<\/p>\n

“A tragic collision between a train and a school bus took place in Buggenhout this morning. Four people have been killed, including two children,” Belgium’s Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prevot wrote on X.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Bart De Wever posted that he was “deeply moved by the horrific accident … My thoughts go out to the affected families.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

“With great dismay, I learnt of the tragic accident in Buggenhout, where a school bus was struck by a train. My thoughts go out to the victims and their loved ones. I wish the injured much strength,” Interior Minister Bernard Quintin wrote earlier on X.<\/p>\n

\"Emergency<\/p>\n

Emergency services work at the scene of an collision between a train and a minibus carrying school children, at the railway crossing Vierhuizen, in Buggenhout, Belgium, May 26, 2026. \/ Credit: DIRK WAEM\/Belga\/AFP\/Getty<\/p>\n

Images from the scene in Belgium’s central Flanders region showed a badly damaged minibus lying on its side on a road next to a railway line, with tents set up by emergency workers around. The commuter train remained halted on the tracks.<\/p>\n

Police spokeswoman An Berger told Belgian media that seven children, a supervisor and a driver were on the minibus, adding that no one on the train was hurt.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the police said the minibus was transporting students from a secondary education school for children with special needs. The police identified those killed as the 49-year-old driver of the minibus, a 27-year-old assistant and two children, adding that five other children were seriously injured but hospitalized in stable condition.<\/p>\n

“The impact was extremely violent,” Frederic Sacre, a spokesman for Belgium’s Infrabel rail agency, told AFP, adding that the train had been traveling at 75 miles per hour.<\/p>\n

“The minibus was thrown about 15 meters (50 feet) into a metal pylon,” he said.<\/p>\n

Sacre said video from the scene showed that road barriers at the railway crossing had been closed and a red light was showing at the time of the incident.<\/p>\n

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen joined in the stream of commiserations from politicians, saying she was “heartbroken” by the collision.<\/p>\n

“My deepest condolences go out to the victims’ families and their loved ones,” she posted online. “Today, Europe grieves with Belgium.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brussels \u2014 A train slammed into a school minibus in Belgium on Tuesday, killing at least four people…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[76,7,11303,11308,3257,11301,11377],"class_list":["post-17452","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-belgium","tag-bart-de-wever","tag-belgium","tag-buggenhout","tag-minibus","tag-minister-maxime-prevot","tag-school-bus","tag-tragic-accident"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116640893338246062","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}