Two young people were electrocuted on a railway line in Laeken early on Thursday morning. Neither survived the incident.
In the company of three other people, two 19-year-old men climbed an overhead line between Bockstael station and Jette station at around 04:00 on Thursday morning. Both were electrocuted and one fell onto the tracks below. Emergency services rushed to the scene but neither of the men survived. A third person also sustained minor injuries.
"Our condolences go out to the family of the deceased," Infrabel spokesperson Thomas Baeken told The Brussels Times. "We would again like to call on people not to trespass on private domain. It is illegal and can have very severe consequences."
The incident damaged the overhead line slightly but had no impact on railway infrastructure or train timetables.
Safety measures
There were 36 accidents and six deaths on Belgian railway lines in 2023, down from 45 accidents in 2019. Infrabel launched a safety action plan in February, predominantly focusing on infrastructural changes to prevent casualties.
Following the incident in Laeken, the railway operator says it is considering installing CCTV cameras in the area where the deaths occurred, which is dubbed a "hotspot" for people walking on the tracks. It will also repair a broken fence at the same location.
Speaking to VRT radio, an uncle of one of the victims said "others in the neighbourhood have done this before. I think it was the first time [one of my relatives] did it. The first and the last time. This is a bit of a dare among young people in the neighbourhood."
An autopsy on Friday confirmed that the electric shock killed one of the men while the fall killed the other. The Brussels Public Prosecutor is continuing to investigate the incident but "initial findings suggest that this was a tragic accident," spokesperson Yasmina Vanoverschelde stated in a press release.
This article was updated to include additional information on Friday 26 July at 17:25.
