Person seriously hurt, horse killed in collision between train and horse trailer

A train hit a horse trailer at a railway crossing in Boxtel on Thursday evening. One of the two horses in the trailer died. The driver of the car in front of the trailer was seriously injured, the police said.

The accident happened around 6:00 p.m. at the railway crossing on Kapelweg in the Tongeren district of Boxtel. According to the police, the horse trailer suddenly came loose at the railway crossing. The car pulling the trailer had already passed the crossing. The driver jumped out of the car and tried to get the horses out of the trailer, but the trailer was hit by a passing train. One horse did not survive. The other horse escaped unscathed, according to the police. The animal managed to escape from the trailer in time.

The man’s injuries were so severe that a trauma team by helicopter responded to the scene. As a result of the accident, no trains ran between Tilburg and Boxtel overnight and early this morning. Stop buses ran on the route instead. Train traffic restarted at around 8:30 a.m.

ProRail reported that the train involved derailed partly due to the collision. There were 350 people onboard. They were evacuated into another train. According to ProRail, the collision caused considerable damage to the level crossing.