Two children, aged 12 and 15, and two adults have been killed in a collision between a train and a school minibus in Buggenhout, northern Belgium, the BBC reports.
The bus was carrying seven children, a driver, 49, and a chaperone, 27, at the time of the collision, which took place shortly after 08:00 local time (06:00 GMT).
Federal police spokeswoman An Berger said it had been on its way to a special education school.
Belgian mobility minister Jean-Luc Crucke confirmed reports that the barriers on a level crossing had been down when the crash happened.
The other five children who were on the bus are in a critical but stable condition in hospital, the public prosecutor’s spokeswoman said.
She added that an investigation has been launched into the incident.
Berger said the minibus had been travelling on a street parallel to the railway and then the driver turned left on to the level crossing while the barrier was already down. At that point, a train was heading through the small town of Buggenhout and ran into the minibus.
The impact of the crash was extremely violent, as the train was travelling at about 90km/h (55mph). The minibus collided with a pole before being thrown some distance into the driveway of a nearby house.
