Mysterious corpse found on train tracks

10 January 2006

BRUSSELS – A police investigation is under way after a body was found on the train tracks at Waterloo station on Tuesday morning.

A train driver saw the corpse on the tracks at about 8.15am as he pulled into the station. He was unable to stop his train (which was travelling from Brussels to Charleroi) and crashed into the body.

According to the news agency Belga, early evidence suggests the person was dead before the crash.

The railway police were immediately called to the scene and Waterloo officers also attended and cordoned off the area.

No information has yet been released as to the identity of the body.

Trains were disrupted on the Charleroi-Brussels line, with considerable delays for most of the morning. Trains were initially stopped on the line, however a second line was reopened after initial police and judicial investigations at the scene were completed.

There were also delays to trains on the lines Brussels to Braine-l’Alleud; Dinant to Essen; and Charleroi to Berchem.

“At one point we had up to 60-minute delays, but the situation improved from 11am when the trains were diverted via Manage and Braine-l’Alleud,” said an Infrabel spokesman. “After that, the delays were no longer than 20 minutes on average.”

Subject: Belgian news