Images show teenage girls walking across tracks to take selfies: “Forbidden and very dangerous”

At the station of Veurne, in West Flanders, two teenagers were filmed behaving in a life-threatening manner. A train passenger was able to film the duo: one girl suddenly runs across the tracks, squats down and appears to take a photo. The other girl sits down with her legs over the edge of the platform. “This is not only prohibited, but also life-threatening,” says Frédéric Petit of Infrabel, which is investigating the images.

A train passenger at Veurne station did not know what she saw on Tuesday afternoon. “Around 3:35 p.m. I was at Veurne station waiting for my train. I saw those two girls busy for a while. They were first taking some pictures on the other platform and against the tracks. Suddenly they were walking back and forth. I filmed them because I thought this was extremely dangerous. One of the girls suddenly walked onto the tracks to put her cell phone in the middle and take a photo. This is really a very dangerous action.”

Forbidden and extremely dangerous

Frédéric Petit from Infrabel is shocked when he sees the images. “This is hallucinating and life-threatening,” he says. “And forbidden too. The images do not clearly show that the girl is taking a selfie or photo, but walking on tracks and hanging with your legs over the edge of the platform is prohibited in any case. “

Infrabel is investigating the facts. “We couldn’t find anything about it at the moment, perhaps because there was no delay or anything like that. But this reminds me very much of an accident in 2014, in which 12-year-old C. was killed. She also took a selfie on the tracks in Flemish Brabant and was fatally hit by a train. Her mother later testified about this to us and started the ‘Unfinished Stories’ campaign with us. We are very concerned that this is happening again.”