Two children and two adults have died after a train collided with a school minibus at a level crossing in northern Belgium, authorities said.

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The crash happened shortly after 08:00 local time on Tuesday in the town of Buggenhout, near Aalst, northwest of Brussels.

The minibus was carrying seven children, a 49-year-old driver and a 27-year-old chaperone on the way to a special education school when the collision occurred.

Federal police spokeswoman An Berger said the victims included two children aged 12 and 15, along with the driver and chaperone. The five other children were taken to hospital in a critical but stable condition.

Belgian officials said nobody on board the train was injured, although one person was treated for shock.

Crossing barriers were down

Belgian mobility minister Jean-Luc Crucke said initial reports indicated the level crossing barriers were already lowered when the minibus entered the tracks.

“My first thoughts are with the victims,” he said.

According to police, the driver had been travelling along a road running parallel to the railway before turning left onto the crossing.

A train approaching Buggenhout station then struck the vehicle.

Thomas Baeken, a spokesman for Belgian rail infrastructure operator Infrabel, said CCTV footage appeared to confirm that warning lights were red and the barriers were down at the time of the collision.

“The train was slowing down as it approached Buggenhout station,” he told Belgian broadcaster VRT.

“How this accident could have happened, we don't know. That is for the police and the public prosecutor’s office to investigate,” he added.

Investigation launched

Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the cause of the crash.

Images from the scene showed the overturned minibus beside the railway line near residential homes. Witnesses said the force of the impact threw the vehicle some distance from the crossing.

Belgian officials said it was too early to assign responsibility for the incident.

Flemish transport minister Annick De Ridder described the collision as “terrible news”.

Flemish education minister Zuhal Demir said on social media that her thoughts were with the victims, their families and those affected by the tragedy.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also expressed condolences, saying: “Today, Europe grieves with Belgium.”

Community in shock

Buggenhout, a small town in the Flemish region of Belgium, was left shaken by the incident as emergency services continued working at the scene throughout the morning.

Rail services in the area were disrupted following the crash while investigators examined the crossing and gathered evidence. Authorities have not yet released the identities of the victims.

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Adapted by ASEAN Now. Source 26 May 2026

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Brutal - this just shows the systems in place mean nothing when people ignore then (which I'm assuming is what occurred here)....

But... this is a arguable a far worse negligence and human failure by the driver than the last weeks train/bus collision in Bangkok.

3 minutes ago, webfact said:

Belgian mobility minister Jean-Luc Crucke said initial reports indicated the level crossing barriers were already lowered when the minibus entered the tracks.

This indicates clear criminal negligence - but also highlight Thailand is not alone in such apathy towards road safety - key facets are clearly individuals following rules.

I do wonder though - how could the bus 'navigate through / across' barriers that were already lowered ?

I'm guessing 'partial barriers' (across one the approaching lane only) and the driver figured he could beat the train.... Which IF true is disgusting.

More innocent lives lost for no reason.

8 minutes ago, webfact said:

Belgian officials said it was too early to assign responsibility for the incident.

This contradicts the statement that 'level crossing barriers were already lowered'...

Travelling parallel to the railway and then turning, the driver may simply not have seen the crossing was active, add in a bunch of possibly noisy schoolkids and it's not hard to imagine how this could have happened. This isn't excusing the driver responsibilty, just suggesting a possible scenario.

14 hours ago, webfact said:

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also expressed condolences, saying: “Today, Europe grieves with Belgium.”

Why is she sticking her nose into this ?

Very sad following on from the news of a similar accident in Bangkok. RIP.

18 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

But... this is a arguable a far worse negligence and human failure by the driver than the last weeks train/bus collision in Bangkok.

Trains cannot be stopped instantly like road vehicles. If the minibus turned onto the crossing ignoring the barriers, in front of the train, then there is nothing the driver could have done.

The 'barriers' on this crossing are not physical but indicative consisting of two parallel cables with a centre flag that can be lowered vertically to 'block' the road. The minibus approached on the parallel road and would have made a low speed 90 degree left turn to drive over the rail track.

5 hours ago, FlorC said:

Why is she sticking her nose into this ?

What the hell? Is she not allowed to express her grief??? She does live in Belgium, and Belgium is very much a central part of Europe.

It would be weird if she didn't express grief.

What's wrong with you?

3 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

What the hell? Is she not allowed to express her grief??? She does live in Belgium, and Belgium is very much a central part of Europe.

It would be weird if she didn't express grief.

What's wrong with you?

Oh great now she can forse some more dystopian measures like mandatory cameras in new cars.

1 minute ago, FlorC said:

Oh great now she can forse some more dystopian measures like mandatory cameras in new cars.

Yeah, let's make something up and get upset about the thing you just made up and hasn't happened, nice one.

17 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

Yeah, let's make something up and get upset about the thing you just made up and hasn't happened, nice one.

Just made up he ? Sure , here is one of the many links , choose one you can rely on.

https://www.activistpost.com/the-eu-is-pushing-driver-monitoring-cameras-heres-why/

4 hours ago, JAG said:

23 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

But... this is a arguable a far worse negligence and human failure by the driver than the last weeks train/bus collision in Bangkok.

Trains cannot be stopped instantly like road vehicles. If the minibus turned onto the crossing ignoring the barriers, in front of the train, then there is nothing the driver could have done.

I meant negligence by the 'bus driver' not the train engineer/operator/driver....

3 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

The 'barriers' on this crossing are not physical but indicative consisting of two parallel cables with a centre flag that can be lowered vertically to 'block' the road. The minibus approached on the parallel road and would have made a low speed 90 degree left turn to drive over the rail track.

The barriers in use at this junction were Automatic Half Barriers (AHOB), which are standard barriers that deliberately close off only the right-hand side of the road to prevent drivers from getting trapped on the rails.

They are solid and physical red and white barriers - that were reportedly already lowered (confirmed by CCTV).

So the bus driver would have had to deliberately drive / navigate his way on to the opposite side of the road to go around the lowered barriers.

46 minutes ago, FlorC said:

Just made up he ? Sure , here is one of the many links , choose one you can rely on.

https://www.activistpost.com/the-eu-is-pushing-driver-monitoring-cameras-heres-why/

Ah, you didn't say driver monitoring and alerts. You said "cameras in cars" like she's watching what's going on everywhere, checking who's in the back seat, what shopping you put in the boot. Like they are sending live feeds to central intelligence. My car is almost seven years old and has active driver monitoring. If it detects I am driving erratically or not paying attention or nodding off it gives me audible alerts. It's a great system and it can, and almost certainly does, save lives.

"It uses cameras and sensors to track eye movements, head positioning, and blinking patterns. If the system detects visual inattention, micro-sleeps, or prolonged drowsiness, it triggers an escalating sequence of acoustic and visual warnings." It's a safety mechanism. What, exactly, is your issue with that?

It's hardly dystopian.

But we know you are a paranoid luddite, so yeah, they're out to get you.

36 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

Ah, you didn't say driver monitoring and alerts. You said "cameras in cars" like she's watching what's going on everywhere, checking who's in the back seat, what shopping you put in the boot. Like they are sending live feeds to central intelligence. My car is almost seven years old and has active driver monitoring. If it detects I am driving erratically or not paying attention or nodding off it gives me audible alerts. It's a great system and it can, and almost certainly does, save lives.

"It uses cameras and sensors to track eye movements, head positioning, and blinking patterns. If the system detects visual inattention, micro-sleeps, or prolonged drowsiness, it triggers an escalating sequence of acoustic and visual warnings." It's a safety mechanism. What, exactly, is your issue with that?

It's hardly dystopian.

But we know you are a paranoid luddite, so yeah, they're out to get you.

These are great systems - would they have stopped this incident ?

5 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

These are great systems - would they have stopped this incident ?

Almost certainly not from what I can understand.

But for sure they have / will prevent others.

1 hour ago, richard_smith237 said:

I meant negligence by the 'bus driver' not the train engineer/operator/driver....

Fair enough.

2 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Ah, you didn't say driver monitoring and alerts. You said "cameras in cars" like she's watching what's going on everywhere, checking who's in the back seat, what shopping you put in the boot. Like they are sending live feeds to central intelligence. My car is almost seven years old and has active driver monitoring. If it detects I am driving erratically or not paying attention or nodding off it gives me audible alerts. It's a great system and it can, and almost certainly does, save lives.

"It uses cameras and sensors to track eye movements, head positioning, and blinking patterns. If the system detects visual inattention, micro-sleeps, or prolonged drowsiness, it triggers an escalating sequence of acoustic and visual warnings." It's a safety mechanism. What, exactly, is your issue with that?

It's hardly dystopian.

But we know you are a paranoid luddite, so yeah, they're out to get you.

If you are ok with that , good for you.

I'm not.

And this one also forced on us :

https://www.arenaev.com/black_box_becomes_compulsory_for_all_new_cars_in_europe_from_july-news-3076.php

We've been driving modern cars for 50 -60 years now without all that monitoring cr-p.

EU is forcing that on member states.

What is Von der leyen and her gang thinking off next after this accident in the OP.

17 minutes ago, FlorC said:

If you are ok with that , good for you.

I'm not.

And this one also forced on us :

https://www.arenaev.com/black_box_becomes_compulsory_for_all_new_cars_in_europe_from_july-news-3076.php

We've been driving modern cars for 50 -60 years now without all that monitoring cr-p.

EU is forcing that on member states.

What is Von der leyen and her gang thinking off next after this accident in the OP.

Heaven forbid they would bring in more safety!!! Imagine what a terrible thing that would be.

The EU has the safest roads in the world thanks to solid legislation and safety standards. Imagine if they kept making them safer, yeah what a terrible world. 1984.

4 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

I meant negligence by the 'bus driver' not the train engineer/operator/driver....

The barriers in use at this junction were Automatic Half Barriers (AHOB), which are standard barriers that deliberately close off only the right-hand side of the road to prevent drivers from getting trapped on the rails.

They are solid and physical red and white barriers - that were reportedly already lowered (confirmed by CCTV).

So the bus driver would have had to deliberately drive / navigate his way on to the opposite side of the road to go around the lowered barriers.

You are correct Sir. I realised my error after taking a second look in Street View. The Red and White half barriers are slim and not highly visible when open (vertical)