Four people have died, including two children, after a crash between a school bus and a train travelling at high speed in northern Belgium.
Five children were taken to the hospital in a serious condition after the crash at a level crossing during morning rush hour in the town of Buggenhout, spokesperson Lisa De Wilde said at a news conference.
De Wilde said that the dead included the driver of the minibus and an escort, as well as two children. She said that the cause of the accident had not been established.
Investigators are questioning witnesses and checking for images from cameras mounted nearby.
“What we do know is that the barrier was closed and the red light was on,” she said.
A spokesperson for Belgian rail operator Infrabel said that the train was estimated to be travelling at about 120km per hour as it approached the crossing and had “no time to brake”.
"The impact was extremely violent,” spokesperson Frédéric Sacré told RTBF public broadcaster.
An Associated Press reporter at the scene said that the badly damaged bus lay toppled on its side. Forensic experts in protective white suits and wearing gloves were taking photos of the scene, while a white pop-up tent was erected nearby. The train was relatively unscathed.
In a social media post, Belgian interior minister Bernard Quintin expressed “great sadness” over “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.”
A spokesperson for De Lijn, the organisation responsible for public bus and tram networks in the Flemish region, told Sky News that the driver was “an experienced member of staff, in good health and passed a medical check-up and the legally required yearly training”.
“Our thoughts are with the victims of this tragic accident, and we passed our condolences to the subcontractor,” they said.
Earlier, the firm had told Belgian outlet HLN: “The man had been doing this work for a very long time and undoubtedly knew his route.”
Buggenhout mayor Geert Hermans told HLN: “I am in shock by what has happened here today. This is an extremely serious accident with a particularly heavy toll.
“This affects us all enormously. Our entire community has been hit incredibly hard. The victims and their families are now our absolute priority.”
Belgium, where a dense railway network criss-crosses towns and villages, has a history of accidents at level crossings.
Five people died in such accidents in 2025, railway infrastructure operator Infrabel says on its website, the lowest number recorded since 2020.
Since 2021, a total of 36 people have died in 168 such accidents, according to Infrabel’s website.
