The 14-year-old Florian from Haren saw the accident happen. “I was on my way home from the football field when I saw a scooter standing still on the track,” he tells RTL Nieuws. “An old man got out and started pulling, so I and two others went to help push it. But it was very difficult.”
Slowly the scooter started moving, but then the barriers suddenly went down. Florian: “A woman screamed very loudly: ‘A train is coming!’. I then ran off the track with my bicycle, while the man was helped off the track by a few other people.”
Although the man was a bit stubborn, Florian says. He definitely wanted to get his scooter off the track.
Very loud bang
“I knew the train could no longer brake in time, so I turned my back to the track and closed my eyes and ears. Then I heard a very loud bang. It was all chaos, parts were everywhere. The train stopped a short distance away. Luckily no one was injured.”
–
–
It is not entirely clear why the scooter came to a stop at the level crossing, but Florian suspects that the engine has failed. “He was too heavy to get him off the track in time.”
Train traffic between Assen and Groningen has been stopped for a few hours due to the collision.
–
–