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Sculpture of whale's tail saves train from plummeting 30 feet off railway platform

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Rotterdam metro train plows through stop block, dangles on whale artwork
Peter Dejong/AP
ByJon Haworth
November 02, 2020, 12:08 PM

LONDON -- A giant sculpture of a whale’s tail has miraculously saved a train from plummeting more than 30 feet off of a railway platform in the Netherlands.

The incident occurred in the early hours on Monday morning in Spijkenisse, Netherlands, when a metro train at De Akkers station in the suburbs of Rotterdam reportedly crashed through a buffer stop at the end of the railway line and managed to land perfectly on top of a giant art installation of a whale’s tail that was located at the end of the line.

“A metro shifted through the ending of the rail, smashing the wood and concrete and ended several meters beyond the ending of the platform. A work of art saved it from falling down, saving the drivers life,” Lindenburg told Storyful.

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The whale's tail of a sculpture caught the front carriage of a metro train as it rammed through the end of an elevated section of rails with the driver escaping injuries in Spijkenisse, near Rotterdam, Netherlands, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020.
Peter Dejong/AP

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According to a tweet by the Rotterdam Police Operational Center Unit, police and emergency services responded to the scene of the accident where, fortunately, no injuries were reported.

Killian Lindenburg who witnessed the aftermath of the accident filmed video showing the metro train being held up and supported by the sculpture of a whale’s tale about 30 feet above a small body of water below.

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In the video, the front base of the train can be seen to have been severally damaged as electrical lines and machinery from the train dangle from the underside of the carriage.

According to Forbes, police at the scene of the accident reported that there were no passengers on the train at the time of the incident and that investigations into what caused the train to drive through the safety buffers at the end of the train line are currently ongoing.

The whale's tail of a sculpture caught the front carriage of a metro train as it rammed through the end of an elevated section of rails with the driver escaping injuries in Spijkenisse, near Rotterdam, Netherlands, Monday, Nov. 2, 2020.
Peter Dejong/AP

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