More than a dozen children were evacuated from a school bus in Belgium after it broke down on a rail crossing last month. The driver of the bus escorted the 16 children on board to safety moments before a train passed through and totally destroyed the bus.
The bus broke down on Koning Albertstraat in Veldegem, which is about 10 miles south of the city of Bruges in Belgium. The bus ground to a halt while traversing a rail crossing in the town and wouldn’t get moving again, reports local news outlet the Brussels Times.
Sixteen children were onboard the bus when it broke down and the driver rushed them to safety once he realized the danger. Just a few minutes after the children were off the bus, a train came through and almost tore the vehicle in two, as Brussels Times reports:
Railway operator Infrabel stated that the collision happened less than four minutes after the bus broke down. However, the emergency number 1711, intended for such situations at level crossings, was called too late to stop train traffic in time. “The train driver initiated an emergency brake but couldn’t avoid the collision,” said spokesperson Thomas Baeken.
De Lijn, the company that operates buses in Belgium, praised the driver’s quick reactions to the incident, which it says “prevented a catastrophe.” In a post shared across social media by the bus operator, driver Jerko Tipuric added:
“I don’t think I’m a hero ... but we are here to help each other - and that day I actively helped, yes. It impressed me a lot, but I get a lot of support from De Lijn and my family.”
Belgium’s rail operator explained that all passengers onboard the train disembarked without injury, and the bus company added that the cause of the breakdown has not been identified. The train involved in the collision was also assessed for damage by inspectors before being towed from the scene, which led to disruption across the line over the following weekend.
It’s been a rough year for rail crossings in 2024 after a police cruiser was destroyed after parking on a crossing just last week and the deadliest line in the U.S. was involved in the deaths of nine people over nine weeks. This led the U.S. Department of Transportation to report that more than 200 people are killed every year on rail crossings here in America.