Brussels — A train crashed into a school minibus in Belgium on Tuesday, reportedly killing several people including two teenagers, according to authorities.
Belgium's RTL network cited the country's transportation minister Jean-Luc Crucke as saying two teenagers and the driver of the bus were killed, adding that his "first thoughts are with the victims, but also with those who were injured and their families."
The Reuters and AFP news agencies also reported three fatalities, citing anonymous local officials.
"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.
Photos from the scene showed the minibus laying on its side near the railway road crossing, with serious damage seen to its front end.
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.
DIRK WAEM/Belga/AFP/Getty
"The impact was extremely violent," said Frederic Sacre, a spokesman for the Belgian rail network operator, describing the toll as "dramatic."
"It happened at around 8:08 am when a minibus was struck by a train that was due to stop at the next station, which was about a kilometer away," he said.
In:
