Sixteen injured in train crash in Linkebeek

Rail services have returned to normal this morning in Linkebeek, just outside Brussels, after an accident yesterday in which 16 people suffered light injuries. The accident happened when a goods train collided with a passenger train travelling from Eigenbrakel to Aalst at about 13.30.

No official reason for the accident has yet been given, though one suggestion is that autumn leaves made the line slippery. Both trains involved were equipped with the new TBL1+ braking system, which is supposed to go into action if a train is about to pass through a red light, a spokesperson for the rail infrastructure company Infrabel said.  

“The train stopped in a tunnel, and then suddenly we felt a shock,” one witness told VRT radio. “My head hit the back of the seat in front of me. I saw people fall to the floor and someone whose nose was bleeding.”

There were 41 passengers on board the train at the time of the accident. Passengers were not seriously injured because the passenger train was stationary and the goods train was travelling at low speed. The injured were taken to hospital in Brussels or Halle, while the rest were transported by bus to Brussels South Station.

“Given the speed of the intervention of emergency services and their efficiency, we have decided not to trigger the disaster plan,” said acting mayor of Linkebeek, Damien Thiéry.

photo by Joost Van Liefferinge/VRT