Woman dies after getting hit by train at unguarded crossing

A 57-year-old woman from Midden-Drenthe died after a train hit her at an unguarded crossing in Looveen near Wijster on Tuesday morning, RTV Drenthe reports.

The fatal accident occurred around 6.45 a.m. and caused train services between Hoogeveen and Beilen to be disrupted until 10.30 a.m. NS buses were deployed to bring travelers to their destinations.

Police were still investigating how the collision occurred, but believed it to be an accident. There were no vehicles involved.

The railway crossing in Wijster was ungaurded and did not have an Andreas cross warning pedestrians of impending train traffic. ProRail previously stated that it wants to secure such crossings to avoid any further life-threatening situations.

In the past summer, the government provided 15 million euros extra for improving the security at train crossings. By the end of 2021, all 180 unguarded crossings in the Netherlands have to be secured.