A train crashed into a minibus that was taking children to school in a small town in Belgium on Tuesday morning, leaving at least four people dead, a Belgian government minister said.
Jean-Luc Crucke, the federal minister of mobility, said in a televised interview with the news channel RTL that two young teenagers, the driver of the minibus and a chaperone had been killed. The crash happened in the town of Buggenhout, less than 20 miles from central Brussels.
VRT News reported that the bus was taking the children to a special needs school. Seven children were aboard, along with the driver and an attendant, the news outlet said. Initial reports suggested that the barrier was down at the crossing, and it was not clear how the accident had happened.
“With great dismay, I learned of the tragic accident in Buggenhout, where a school bus was struck by a train,” Bernard Quintin, the Belgian interior minister, wrote on social media. “My thoughts go out to the victims and their loved ones. I wish the injured much strength.”
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union’s executive arm, also extended her condolences. “Today, Europe grieves with Belgium,” she wrote on social media.
