A train crashed into a van carrying schoolchildren in a small town near Brussels on Tuesday morning, leaving two children and two adults dead, Belgian officials said.
The students attended a special education school, Kurt Moens, a deputy for the province of East Flanders responsible for education, said at a news conference in Buggenhout, Belgium, where the crash occurred.
Seven children were in the van, along with the driver and a counselor, an official said. The five surviving children were taken to a hospital, Lisa De Wilde, a spokeswoman for the East Flanders public prosecutor's office, said at a news conference.
The barrier was down and red lights were on at the crossing, but the van bypassed them and moved onto the tracks, Thomas Baeken, a spokesman for Infrabel, a transportation infrastructure operator, said in an interview.
The train's operator deployed the emergency brake, but that did not prevent the crash, Mr. Baeken added. He said that the accident, which happened at 8:08 a.m., was captured on camera and that the images would be used in an investigation.
“We are heartbroken,†Mr. Baeken said.
Buggenhout is less than 20 miles from central Brussels. The two children killed were 12 and 15 years old, the driver was 49 years old and the counselor was 27, Ms. De Wilde said.
She said the five other children were in critical condition when they were taken to the hospital. They were in stable condition at the time of the news conference, she said.
No one on the train was injured, Dimitri Temmerman, a spokesman for the Belgian national railway company, said near the site of the accident. He said about 100 passengers had been on the train.
Karol Mielechowicz, 20, a plumber, said he had been working at a nearby home with a colleague when the crash happened. After hearing a loud bang, they looked out a window and saw a train coming to a stop. They ran outside to see the van and a person lying on the ground.
“Hats off to the people around here who helped,†said Mr. Mielechowicz, who described seeing neighbors and passers-by rushing to the scene and calling emergency services, who arrived quickly.
“It's not something you ever want to see,†said his colleague, Bram Lievens, 17.
Eddy De Block, 70, who lives near the crossing, said he had been concerned about the safety situation there. He said there was heavy traffic on most mornings, much of it bound for schools on the other side of the tracks, “and every 10 minutes a train comes.†Cars regularly break the speed limit of 30 kilometers (about 19 miles) an hour, he added.
When the crossing's barriers are down, they leave a gap that drivers can get through, and some do, Mr. De Block said. “Why not a closed railway crossing?†he asked. “As long as there are no accidents, people don't talk about it much,†he said.
Mr. Baeken of Infrabel said the gaps were left there deliberately, so that drivers can escape if they are on the tracks when the barriers come down. “That's a deliberate choice here in Belgium,†he said, adding that the crossing conformed with all regulations.
Mr. Baeken said that in statistics going back to 2007, there had never been an accident at the crossing.
The local government said the public prosecutor's office would lead an investigation into the crash.
Belgian and European officials offered their condolences. “My thoughts go out to the victims and their loved ones,†Bernard Quintin, the Belgian interior minister, wrote on social media. “I wish the injured much strength.â€
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Union's executive arm, wrote on social media, “Today, Europe grieves with Belgium.â€
