A commuter train car careened off the end of elevated train tracks yesterday near Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It was saved from plunging more than 30 feet to the ground when it landed on the sculpture of a whale’s tail. It was indeed a fluke.
The NYTimes quotes Ruud Natrop, a spokesman for safety in the Rotterdam-Rijnmond area, where the accident occurred. “It’s like the scene of a Hollywood movie,” he said. “Thank God the tail was there.”
The derailment, in the city of Spijkenisse, happened around 12:30 a.m. on Monday, according to local news outlets. The driver was the only person on the city train and was unharmed, Mr. Natrop said, and was taken to the hospital for an evaluation and then to the police station for questioning.
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