A railway worker died this morning after being struck by a train in the line at Ruisbroek in Flemish Brabant. Traffic on line L96 between Forest-Midi in Brussels and Halle is suspended for the time being, as is the TGV travelling towards France.
The man was an employee of a subcontractor to the rail infrastructure company Infrabel. He had been working through the night on modernisation works taking place at the junction of line L96 and L96N, and had just finished his shift at 06.00 when the accident happened.
Rail traffic on line L96N remains open.
“A procedure is in operation for these works that says that no one is allowed to cross the railway in service,” said Thomas Baeken of Infrabel.
“There are separate site entrances where one can safely get on and off the track. The man had just finished working and was supposed to leave the track via the agreed site access. He nevertheless crossed the tracks that were in service. How and for what reason is not yet clear.”
The further circumstances are not yet known. Exactly how the accident could have happened is now being investigated.
Psycho-social counselling has been organised for the man’s colleagues, and the public prosecutor’s office at Halle has been informed.
Alan Hope
The Brussels Times
