Spoor
Infrabel has reported that a woman with a pram crossed a closed railway line in Wetteren, a few seconds before a train passed by. Less than an hour later, a motorcyclist also drives past the closed barriers at the same spot. A moped rider suffered life-threatening injuries at a closed level crossing in Zulte, probably after being hit by a train.
On Thursday morning at 9.29 am, the woman with her baby in a pram crossed the closed railway crossing at Wetterstraat in Wetteren. A witness who was waiting at the barriers saw everything happen. “We have no camera images or reports from witnesses or the train driver, but we are aware of the incident,” Infrabel said.
“This is incomprehensible and hallucinatory,” responds spokesperson Frédéric Petit. “It could have been much worse. It is a shame that this still happens too often, despite all the awareness campaigns we do. This just gives you goosebumps. We would therefore like to once again appeal to everyone to adhere to the traffic rules. There are several signals that show that there is a railway crossing. It’s simple: if the red light is on, you have to stop,” says the Infrabel spokesperson.
Striking: barely 42 minutes later there was a motorcyclist who committed the same violation in the same place. Both incidents were recorded by Infrabel’s technical camera. Last year, the rail network manager shared images of a 15-year-old cyclist and a 20-year-old moped rider, both of whom were narrowly missed by an oncoming train after they had driven past the closed barriers.
Accident in Zulte
On Friday, a moped rider suffered life-threatening injuries at the railway crossing in Zaubeekstraat in Zulte, probably after being hit by a train. The man’s moped was thrown onto the roadside and was reduced to scrap. The 40-year-old victim from Tielt was still conscious and was taken to hospital for treatment.
“The level crossing was closed, but we do not yet know the exact circumstances of the accident,” said Frédéric Petit, spokesperson for Infrabel. The train continued to the platform in Waregem. The accident disrupted train traffic in both directions between Deinze and Waregem. The NMBS has deployed replacement buses.
