“One train was travelling from Leuven to ’s Gravenbrakel, the other from Quiévrain to Liège,” said Kristien Berckmans, spokesperson for Infrabel, which is in charge of rail infrastructure. According to Infrabel, there were “a number of injured”. The mayor of Halle, Dirk Pieters, reported 20 dead, even as the injured were still being taken from the scene.

“The first carriages were completely wrecked,” one witness said. “There’s not much of them left. Another man described how he had been trapped for 10 minutes until he was freed by emergency services, which arrived quickly on the scene. “I was really lucky; others in the carriage were a lot worse off,” he said.

Train services between Brussels and Mons and between Brussels and Tournai were suspended due to damage to overhead cables, and Thalys and Eurostar trains were diverted away from the scene, while subsequent international trains were cancelled between Brussels South Station and both London and Paris. The governor of Flemish Brabant, Lodewijk De Witte, immediately set up a crisis centre to coordinate the rescue effort.

Many passengers were able to leave the wreckage by themselves, while the more seriously injured were carried to the station square in Halle. Buses were brought in to ferry passengers to their destinations, while passengers requiring treatment were transported to hospitals in Leuven, Aalst, Ukkel, Jette and the Erasmus hospital in Anderlecht. The Flemish Red Cross sent an SMS to donors asking for donations of “O” and “A” blood to cope with the increased demand.

According to one passenger, speaking to VRT news, the ’s Gravenbrakel train was travelling at low speed after leaving the station in Halle when the collision occurred. Witnesses described the sound of braking followed by a loud crash. Passengers remained calm, one man said.

Governor De Witte, mayor Pieters and federal interior minister Annemie Turtelboom held a joint press conference where it was announced that the train travelling from Leuven had gone through a red signal, though it was not yet clear whether it was human error or a technical fault. The rail authority NMBS issued a press release saying they could not speculate on possible causes for the crash but would release information as it became available.

From San Francisco, where he is attending the Flanders Trade, Innovation & Investment Mission, minister-president Kris Peeters sent a message thanking the emergency services for their speedy and effective response. “This is another black day for Flanders,” he said. “My thoughts are with the victims and their families. I hope they will be able to receive the care they need as quickly as possible. I remain in close contact with the municipal and provincial governments.”

King Albert and prime minister Yves Leterme were both abroad when the news broke. As Flanders Today went to press, there were both returning to Belgium and planned to visit the site of the accident together.

Also on the scene was an investigating magistrate from the Brussels prosecutor’s office, as well as the prosecutor himself, Bruno Bulthé. They were accompanied by an expert accident investigator and two other magistrates.

The accident is the most serious in recent Belgian rail history. In January 2001, once person was killed on a TGV line in Borgworm, while in March of the same year eight people died when two trains collided on the Waver- Leuven line at Pécrot. That accident also involved a signal passed at red. Since then, despite accidents involving up to 52 injured, no fatalities have occurred on Belgium’s railways. The worst accident ever was in 1908 in Kontich, when 40 died.

The Buizingen accident was immediately the lead item on the BBC News website, as well as main news sites in the Netherlands, France, Germany and Italy.