A seven-year-old child was struck by a tram in the Brussels municipality of Anderlecht on Wednesday evening while riding his bicycle. The child was rushed to the hospital.
At 18:50 on rue Wayez, near the Cureghem tram stop, the child rode out in front of the moving STIB tram and was hit. The child was able to rise to his feet, get back on his bike, and ride away, but later returned to the scene complaining of feeling unwell.
“He was taken care of by emergency services and fortunately his life is not in danger,” Françoise Ledune, spokesperson for STIB, told Sudinfo.
The accident has caused controversy among local Brussels politicians. The area where the incident occurred has recently undergone pedestrianisation, except for the presence of the tram. Some fear that the area poses a danger to vulnerable road users.
“This is already the second accident between a tram and a person since the inauguration of this so-called pedestrianised area and that raises questions,” said Brussels MP and Anderlecht councillor Gaëtan Van Goidsenhoven.
“People do not realise that it is an exclusive right-of-way area for trams. This new development gives a false sense of security to weak road users and trams approach it as if it were only an exclusive right-of-way area and not a shared roadway,” he concluded.
