Passengers were shocked on Tuesday morning after a girl was trapped between the doors of a departing bus, and wasn't noticed for several hundred meters. The incident took place on bus 552 in the direction of Diest, according to Belgian media. The bus was already quite full when the driver closed the doors and drove off, unaware of a girl stepping up and getting stuck between the doors.
According to witnesses, she stayed outside on the bus for several hundred meters until the driver was alerted by the cries of other passengers.
"Of course this could have ended much worse," said Sonja Loos from De Lijn. “Normally the driver receives an alarm signal when something like this happens. Some buses cannot even leave if the doors are not closed. That alarm did not sound."
De Lijn has not yet spoken to the girl and hopes that she will contact soon so that she can present her version of the facts. "We are especially happy that she was not injured," said De Lijn.
The bus in question was temporarily taken out of service to investigate if something went wrong. "Because this should never have happened," said Loos.
Jules Johnston
The Brussels Times
