{"id":467714,"date":"2026-05-26T11:55:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T11:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/467714\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T11:55:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T11:55:09","slug":"four-killed-as-train-collides-with-schoolbus-in-belgium-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/467714\/","title":{"rendered":"Four killed as train collides with schoolbus in Belgium \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Four people are dead, including two children, following a collision \u200bbetween a \u200btrain and a \u2060schoolbus \u200cin \u200bthe \u2060<a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/belgium\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/belgium\/\">Belgian <\/a>\u200btown \u200bof \u200cBuggenhout on \u200bTuesday morning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Belgium\u2019s mobility minister, Jean-Luc Crucke, told Belgian broadcaster RTL that four people died in the crash \u2013 two pupils, the driver and the other adult \u2013 and two are seriously injured.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \"> \u201cIt\u2019s tragic,\u201d he was reported as saying. \u201cMy first thoughts are with the victims, but also with those who were injured and their families.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The crash happened at a level crossing during the morning rush hour near Buggenhout, about 30km (20 miles) northwest of the capital, Brussels.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">There were nine people on the schoolbus at the time of the collision, according to Belgian media. They included a driver, an attendant and seven children, mostly of secondary-school age.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The children are understood to have been attending a school for special needs children.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">CCTV footage shows a level crossing where the collision took place was shut, according to initial reports in the Belgian media.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Emergency services take images with their smartphones at the site of crash involving a train and schoolbus. Photograph: Dirk Waem\/Belga\/AFP\/Getty Images\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/QHIREFZ5UFHR65M4SVGCGWXFEY.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"533\"\/>Emergency services take images with their smartphones at the site of crash involving a train and schoolbus. Photograph: Dirk Waem\/Belga\/AFP\/Getty Images <img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Photograph: Dirk Waem\/Belga\/AFP\/Getty Images\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4F7XNP2WFTAIZJYL7GPKNUCDQ4.jpg\"   width=\"800\" height=\"533\"\/>Photograph: Dirk Waem\/Belga\/AFP\/Getty Images <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Investigators are questioning witnesses and checking for images from cameras mounted nearby, a spokeswoman said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cWhat we do know is that the barrier was closed and the red light was on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">A spokesperson for Belgian rail operator Infrabel said that the train was estimated to be travelling at about 120km\/h as it approached the crossing and had \u201cno time to brake\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cThe impact was extremely violent,\u201d the spokesman, Frederic Sacre, told RTBF public broadcaster.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Belgium\u2019s interior minister, Bernard Quintin, said: \u201cWith great dismay, I learned of the tragic accident in Buggenhout, where a schoolbus was struck by a train. My thoughts go out to the victims and their loved ones. I wish the injured much strength,\u201d he said on X. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">\u201cWhat could have been a beautiful spring \u200cmorning suddenly turned into a pitch-black \u200bday,\u201d East Flanders provincial deputy Kurt Moens told news outlet VRT \u2060NWS.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">European Commission president Ursula \u2060von der \u200bLeyen said on X: \u201cToday, Europe grieves with Belgium.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \"> \u2013 Agencies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four people are dead, including two children, following a collision \u200bbetween a \u200btrain and a \u2060schoolbus \u200cin \u200bthe&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":467715,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17979,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-467714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-belgium","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=467714"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/467714\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/467715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=467714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=467714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=467714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}