Bus Crash Survivor, 15, Vows Never to Ride School Bus Again
Fifteen-year-old Italo De Coster, one of the survivors of the devastating school bus crash in Buggenhout, East Flanders, has told his parents he will never board a school bus again. The teenager was found awake on the ground next to the wreckage of the minibus after it was struck by a passenger train at a level crossing on Tuesday, 26 May 2026, in a tragedy that claimed four lives.
The Crash
The accident occurred at approximately 8:08 AM local time at the Vierhuizen level crossing in Buggenhout, a town between Antwerp and Brussels. A minibus operated by transport company ‘t Ros Beiaard, subcontracting for Flemish public transport company De Lijn, was carrying students to Richtpunt Campus Buggenhout, a secondary school for special needs education. As the bus entered the crossing, the barriers were down and red lights were flashing. The bus struck the barriers and was hit by a passenger train traveling at 90 km/h on railway line 53, catapulting the vehicle onto the driveway of a nearby house.
According to Het Laatste Nieuws, four people died in the crash: the bus driver Noureddine Zerrouak (49), student supervisor Anke (27), and two students — Arthur Mherian (12) and Mohamed Reda (15). Five other students were seriously injured and taken to hospital, their conditions initially critical but later stabilized.
Italo’s Story: ‘I’ll Never Get on a School Bus Again’
Italo De Coster, from Beveren in East Flanders, had been a student at Richtpunt Campus Buggenhout since October or November 2025. On the morning of the crash, he boarded the bus around 7:00 AM for his daily 40-minute commute. A fellow student named Milan got off the bus just five minutes before the crash.
Italo’s parents, Chiara and Jeffrey, wrote a moving letter to HLN describing their ordeal. Chiara heard about the accident on the radio around 9:30 AM and immediately panicked. Before she could call the school, two women appeared at her door holding police badges. “I couldn’t breathe,” she wrote. “The only thing I could shout was that this couldn’t be, that it couldn’t possibly be Italo’s bus.”
The family rushed to UZ Gent hospital, a 40-minute drive that felt like hours. “We thought no one could survive this impact,” they said. Miraculously, Italo survived, though he suffered serious injuries including fractures, a head wound, deep cuts, and back and neck pain. He remains in intensive care.
Italo has no memory of the crash itself. He remembers seeing Milan get off the bus and then closing his eyes — he often slept on the bus. He woke up on the ground next to the destroyed vehicle. “The only thing he says when he’s awake is: ‘I’ll never get on a school bus again,’” his parents wrote.
A Family Who Fled War, Now Mourning a Son
Among the victims was Arthur Mherian (12), a Ukrainian refugee whose family fled the war in 2022. In a separate interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, his father Artem described the devastating loss.
Arthur’s family fled Dnipro, Ukraine, in 2022 after seeing footage of a bombed building in Kharkiv with dead children. They drove as far as they could and settled in Bornem, Belgium, where they have lived for four years. Both Arthur and his sister Monica (6) were diagnosed with autism two years ago and attended specialized schools.
“We fled to bring our children to safety,” Artem said. “And then… Everything is broken.” He described Arthur as “loving and gentle” with “not a gram of aggression in him.” The family had recently begun to feel they could finally live freely again.
Artem said he is not yet angry at the driver. “I first want to know exactly what happened,” he said. “Let us mourn our son first.”
The Investigation: Why Did the Driver Cross the Closed Barrier?
The central question remains unanswered. Camera footage from Infrabel, the rail infrastructure manager, confirms the barriers were down and red lights were flashing when the bus entered the crossing. The train driver applied the emergency brake but could not stop in time.
According to an investigation analysis by HLN, the autopsy on the bus driver did not yield conclusive results. The public prosecutor’s office is awaiting toxicology reports, analysis of camera footage, witness statements, technical data from the train’s black boxes, and possible examination of the bus itself.
“You can technically reconstruct everything, but you cannot look into that man’s head,” said criminal lawyer Walter Damen. Police magistrate Siegfried Stallaert noted that while the vehicle’s modules, such as airbags, could reveal whether the bus was accelerating or braking, the key witnesses — the driver and supervisor — both died in the crash.
Belgium has 1,601 level crossings, and the tragedy has reignited debate about their safety. A memorial event is scheduled for 26 June 2026 in Buggenhout.
Broader Impact
The crash has deeply affected the Buggenhout community and the school at Richtpunt Campus. Prime Minister Bart De Wever expressed condolences, and Flemish Education Minister Zuhal Demir visited the school. King Philippe called the governor of East Flanders from the United States to offer his sympathies.
For survivors like Italo, the road to recovery will be long. “We hope he recovers quickly physically,” his parents wrote, “even though we realize the mental process will take much longer.” The five injured students remain in hospital, with three requiring long-term care.
As the investigation continues, the community begins the long process of healing from a tragedy that has left four families grieving and a nation searching for answers.