February 15, 201016 yr Eighteen people have been killed in a head-on collision between two passenger trains in Belgium, although the death toll could rise. Railway officials said the trains collided during the morning rush hour at Halle, south-west of Brussels. One reportedly missed a stop signal. "The devastation is enormous," said an official, as bloodied passengers were helped from the wrecked carriages. Rail services to south-western Belgium, Paris and London were cancelled. There were varying reports about the death toll, but eight hours after the crash the crisis centre set up to deal with the accident said there were 18 confirmed deaths. Other officials were reported as saying up to 25 people had died. The two trains collided in the commuter town around 0830 local time (0730 GMT). The governor of Flemish Brabant province, Lodewijk De Witte, said one of the trains seemed to have missed a stop signal. Belgium's track operator Infrabel said an investigation into the accident was under way, and it was difficult to speculate on the cause at this stage. Television pictures showed carriages pushed up at an angle or leaning to the side from the force of the crash. Witnesses said people were thrown around violently inside the trains with one passenger describing the "carriages compacted together" by the collision. The two trains were carrying a total of about 250 to 300 people, a rail official said, AFP news agency reported. Emergency workers said there was considerable damage to the overhead power lines at the station in Buizingen, the district of Halle where the trains crashed. "The devastation is enormous," said Infrabel spokesman Bram De Saedeleer. "Officials of the public prosecutor's office are at the scene and will supervise the investigation. Our first concern is for the victims." Doctors were treating some of the injured at the scene of the crash, including performing amputations, while others had been taken to nearby hospitals. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8515855.stm
February 15, 201016 yr I've been following the news all day, it's terrible. Thank God it's a school holiday right now, otherwise there could have been a lot more kids on that train. 18 people got killed in the crash, and a lot of people are badly injured.
February 15, 201016 yr I've been following the news all day, it's terrible. Thank God it's a school holiday right now, otherwise there could have been a lot more kids on that train. 18 people got killed in the crash, and a lot of people are badly injured. true, I woke up this morning with this news and I was shocked :\ I have family near to where it happened and luckely there alright .
February 15, 201016 yr it's all over the news . I still can't believe it really happened . Yes, was all over the news all day, wasn't it? Radio, tv... It's shocking something like this could happen. And probably all because of one human mistake :confused:
February 15, 201016 yr at first I thought it was because of the snow . but now they say it's because of he ignored a red light, and it all happened before in 2001 with the same mistake :\ I can't believe that they let something like that happen again .
February 15, 201016 yr at first I thought it was because of the snow . but now they say it's because of he ignored a red light, and it all happened before in 2001 with the same mistake :\ I can't believe that they let something like that happen again . They didn't "let anything happen" that time or this time, he should have stopped but didn't. There's not much that can be done about that, the same way as a car accident being inevitable if you ignore the red lights.
February 15, 201016 yr I know that, it's just last time it happened they knew that the train had been driving in the wrong direction for 6 minutes and they couldn't do anything, now almost the same thing happened, a train ran a red light (that means he can hit another train) and they still can't do anything about it :confused:
February 15, 201016 yr Truly sad.:( Maggy, you're right. But There are ways to prevent these wrecks - automated equipment to stop the train at a red light, in case the operator doesn't. It wouldn't even need to be all that sophisticated. With aircraft, there are three fail safes before an accident - perhaps the small added expense of an automated system override would be worth it for rail? My heart goes out to all the injured passengers, family, and emergency workers.
February 15, 201016 yr It's terrible. And they're performing on site amputations to get the last surviving passengers out of the trains, according to Danish news at 21pm. So terrible. My thoughts go to all affected by this terrible accident.
February 16, 201016 yr Ugh, this sucks. Human error :disappointed: hopefully that equipment to automatically stop the train will be installed fleet-wide now. I always have a weird preference to go in the middle carriages and this sort of thing is why, even if it's one of the safest methods of transport. I is paranoid a bit.
February 16, 201016 yr Today's lesson: Red means stop. Who wouldn't stop at a red light!? A lot of needless deaths.
February 16, 201016 yr The odds are one-in-a-million, but by the millionth train passing by, at least one of those million chances has made the mistake. Operator may have had a stroke, or heart attack just before; or looked in back at a stuck brake when he should have been looking ahead - any number of possibilities. Human error is always a factor - so if there were some duplication of safety mechanisms at stops - an electronic pulse sent to stop the train when the light switched to red, or a photo-sensor coupled to a switch on the train - three fail-safes in aircraft, why not three on rail? I think it would be quite affordable.. Anyhow, it's a good time to work towards a safer rail system. The political will is there, and the technology can upgrade the systems without too much expense. The U.S. could use this as well, if we don't already have something like this in place? More research needed..
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