Two people dead after car was hit by train at unguarded crossing in Friesland

Two people were killed in a collision between a train and a car at an unguarded railway crossing near the village of Boazum in Friesland on Saturday around 10 a.m. The two occupants died instantly, Omroep Fryslan reported.

“We do not know what exactly took place. All we know is that a passing train hit a car. The vehicle was dragged for about 100 meters by the train”, police spokesperson, Bert Sietzema said.

Police are still working on establishing the identity of the victims.

Besides the train conductor, there were three other people on the train at the time of the accident. None of them were injured and have since continued their journey.

Due to the collision, no trains will run between Leeuwarden and Sneek until 4.30 p.m. Busses have been provided to transport passengers.

A deadly accident occurred at the same crossing in July 2019. Since then, railway manager, ProRail, has indicated they are busy with the removal of all such unguarded railway crossings.

“It happened at a level crossing without railroad barriers and bells. It is clear such crossings are dangerous and we have to get rid of them. We are working on it with all our might”, Aldert Boss from ProRail said.

A decision was made to place an automatic installation that will close the road when a train near. Boss said it takes long to guard crossing because agreements also have to be made with the government. “We would like for it to be faster, but it is often complicated. You really have to work together to find a good approach.”