A train slammed into an electric cargo bike in the Netherlands on Thursday, killing four young children and leaving two other people critically injured, authorities said.
Police
spokeswoman Dianne van Gameren said the victims were “primary school
age” and some of them came from the same family. Their identities were
not released.
The accident happened in the
southern town of Oss, 100 kilometers (62 miles) southeast of Amsterdam,
at a rail crossing close to one of its railway stations. The crossing
has warning lights and red-and-white barriers to keep pedestrians off
the tracks when trains pass.
Police said the
electric vehicle belonged to a children’s day care center and was taking
children to school when the collision happened.
The
vehicle involved was an electric cargo bike, which has a large wooden
or plastic box mounted to the frame in front of the rider. They were
formerly used for transporting goods but are now very popular among
Dutch parents for carrying young children. The driver stands on a
platform behind a large container and steers using bicycle-like
handlebars.
The two critically injured victims, a child and the woman operating the vehicle, were taken to a local hospital.
ProRail,
the company responsible for rail infrastructure in the Netherlands,
said the cause of the collision is under investigation.
“This
is a very dark day, terrible for the next of kin and those involved,”
said ProRail CEO Pier Eringa. “There are no words to describe this.”
Eringa
said initial investigations suggested that the barriers at the crossing
were working correctly at the time of the accident.
“Our
thoughts are with the families who lost their children in the terrible
accident in Oss,” a visibly upset Dutch Queen Maxima told reporters
during a visit to the northern region of Friesland.
Oss
Mayor Wobine Buijs-Glaudemans offered condolences to “the families, the
school, the day care center and everybody else involved.”
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