Rail Derailment in Belgium

Belgian passenger train derailment leaves one dead, dozens injured

A passenger train has derailed on the way from Leuven to Brussels in Belgium, killing at least one person and leaving up to 25 people injured, according to local media reports. 

The Leuven fire department has confirmed to local media that two people are in critical condition and 23 others have been injured. 14 people have already been transferred to local hospitals for treatment.

“The victim who died, was not on the train,” Leuven mayor Louis Tobback told VTM. “A judicial inquiry should determine what that person was doing there,” he added.

“The train derailed around 13:20 hours at the departure from the station of Leuven, in the transition area a few hundred meters past the platform,” a spokesman for Belgium’s railway company, Infrabel, told De Standaard.

It is also reported that there were between 50 and 60 passengers on the train.

Leuven Police have confirmed that 50 people have been evacuated from the scene of the crash and with several currently being treated for minor injuries. 

Belgium’s Prime Minister Charles Michel took to Twitter en route to the scene of the crash site to thank the emergency services.

“Condolences to victims and family members of the train accident in #Leuven. Thanks to the emergency services for rapid intervention,” Belgium’s Prime Minister Charles Michel said on Twitter.