Several dead after train hits school bus in Belgium

BUGGENHOUT: Several people were killed when a train hit a school minibus carrying seven children in northern Belgium on Tuesday, officials said.

Two sources told AFP that there were several fatalities among those on the bus after the collision at a level crossing in the village of Buggenhout.

Belgian media showed images of a badly damaged minibus lying on its side on a road next to a railway line, with tents set up by emergency workers around.The impact was extremely violent,” spokesman Frederic Sacre said, describing the toll as “dramatic”.

“It happened at around 8:08 am (0608 GMT) when a minibus was struck by a train that was due to stop at the next station, which was about a kilometre away,” he said.

Belgian interior minister Bernard Quintin wrote on X that “my thoughts go out to the victims and their loved ones”.

“I wish the injured much strength,” he wrote.