A young woman was killed on Wednesday evening after being hit by a train at a level crossing in Wijgmaal, Flemish Brabant.
The collision happened at about 22:10 at the level crossing on Remylaan, near Wijgmaal station. The woman had just got off a train from Leuven and left the platform to cross the tracks.
At the time, the level crossing was closed, the barriers were down, and the red warning lights were operating, according to Infrabel, the infrastructure manager of Belgium’s rail network. An express train travelling from Haacht to Leuven was approaching the crossing. The driver applied the emergency brake but was unable to avoid the collision.
The woman died at the scene.
About 80 passengers on board the train were evacuated and taken by bus to Leuven. Rail traffic between Leuven and Haacht was suspended after the incident, but the tracks were reopened during the night, allowing services to run normally again on Thursday morning.
Infrabel again urged people to take extreme care near railway lines and level crossings and to obey traffic rules.
It warned people not to cross when a level crossing is closed, and said that even if a train has just passed in one direction, another train may still be coming from the opposite direction.
