Railcrash

This morning was a typical Monday morning in a plenary session week, with an earlier-than-usual meeting of the Directors followed by a ‘pre-session’ meeting of all of the services involved in the organisation and management of this week’s plenary session. But then, just as the pre-session meeting was about to begin, we heard news of a bad train crash at Halle, on the line from Mons to Brussels. Twenty or more people may be dead and a much larger number are feared injured. At least one of our colleagues was on one of the trains involved although, thankfully, survived with only minor injuries. We anxiously await news and, of course, our hearts go out to those who have lost loved ones or been badly injured. There is, as yet, no clear indication of the cause. Stop press: another colleague was on board one of the trains but is fortunately OK.