Head-on Collision

A train crash in Brussels has left at least 20 people dead after high speed locomotives collided head-on amid snowy conditions, after at least one vehicle failed to put on the brakes. “The trains, one travelling from Leuven to Braine-le-Comte and another from Quiévrain to Liege, crashed head-on amid snowy conditions at 7.30 GMT. A third train was derailed during the crash at the station of Buizingen near Halle, nine miles south-west of the Belgian capital. Belgian emergency services workers headed to the scene of what officials called a ‘horrific’ crash. The local mayor told Belgian state broadcasters that ‘over 20 people have died and many are seriously injured’. ‘The collision was a brutal one, the train did not brake. Coaches have been overturned and many people have been hit. It is carnage,’ a passenger told Belgium’s RTL broadcaster. High speed Eurostar and Thalys train services between London and Paris to Brussels have been suspended. Belgian railway authorities said the crash caused major damage to overhead power lines at the station.”