An investigation is under way after four people, including two children, were killed when a school minibus collided with a train in northern Belgium.

Five children were injured in the crash at a level crossing near the small town of Buggenhout in Flanders on Tuesday.

Belgium’s transport minister, Jean-Luc Crucke, told RTL TV that two young people, the bus driver and an adult accompanying the children had lost their lives. “My first thoughts are with the victims, but also those people who are injured and their families,” he said.

The other five passengers in the bus, all children, were taken to hospital with serious injuries and were said to be in stable condition.

The crash happened just after 8am on Tuesday when a school minivan collided with a train travelling from Bruges to Buggenhout, about 14 miles (22km) north of Brussels.

The bus was reported to have attempted to cross the level crossing, despite lowered barriers and a flashing red light. On seeing the van, the train driver applied the emergency brakes but was unable to avoid the collision.

A spokesperson for the rail network operator Infrabel told the Flemish public broadcaster VRT: “We do not know how the accident could have happened. That is for the police and the public prosecutor’s office to investigate.”

A spokesperson for the public prosecutor told reporters that the four victims were two children aged 15 and 12, their 27-year-old chaperone and the driver of the van, who was 49.

TV footage showed the crumpled white minivan overturned on its side at the crossing, with ambulances and a helicopter. Such was the force of the impact that the bus was catapulted into the driveway of a house, according to a VRT reporter at the scene.

The children were on their way to a special educational needs school in the town.

“What could have been a beautiful spring morning suddenly turned into a pitch-black day,” the East Flanders politician responsible for the school, Kurt Moens, told local media. “The accident in Buggenhout affects us all very deeply. I express my deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wish the injured much strength.”

Belgium’s prime minister, Bart De Wever, wrote on X that he was “deeply moved by the horrific accident in Buggenhout. My thoughts go out to the affected families.”

The national rail operator SNCB/NMBS said the train had been carrying about 100 people, none of whom were injured. “One passenger was in a state of shock, but no one on the train was injured,” a spokesperson told local media. The passengers were evacuated to a local fire station.

Belgium, which has one of the oldest railway networks in Europe, with a dense thicket of lines, has a history of accidents at level crossings, although the trend has been declining.

In 2024, five people died and nine were seriously injured in accidents at level crossings, according to Infrabel’s latest annual report. The operator reported 30 accidents that year, which the news agency Belga and the Brussels Times said was historically low, in contrast to an average of 45-50 accidents between 2008 and 2021.

Over the last 21 years Infrabel has removed 450 level crossings from the network as part of efforts to improve safety, with about 1,600 remaining.

Among condolences from across Europe, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she was heartbroken to learn of the accident. “Today, Europe grieves with Belgium,” she said.