An elevated tram conductor was saved big by the tail of a whale! The train ran past the end of its tracks in Rotterdam, Netherlands. It could have reportedly plunged 30 feet into the water below, but thankfully the metro train was caught by the whale’s tail. It was a great escape for the conductor who could have otherwise suffered serious injuries. The driver was not hurt, and there were no passengers on board. It nestled atop the art sculpture featuring the tail fin of a whale. Photos and videos capturing the scene show the train being held up by the sculpture.
Over the years, we have witnessed instances where people had lucky escapes, but this one was really a fluke! The incident occurred near the port city of Rotterdam. According to reports, about 50 people were at the scene as engineers tried to work out how to stabilize and then remove the train. The strengthening winds were challenging the task even more. If it was not coincident enough, there is another interesting fact about the sculpture that you may not have known. Made of reinforced polyester and put up in 2002, the giant whale sculpture is called “Saved by the Whale’s Tail.”
Many at the scene have captured incredible photos and videos that show how comfortably, the train’s carriage was resting at the whale’s tail fin. “Of course it does look rather poetic. But it's really lucky that the tail can bear the weight of the train,” the artist and architect of the sculpture, Maarten Struijs was quoted saying in reports.
See Pics of 'Saved by the Whale's Tail'
A Rotterdam Metro went off the rails and was stopped by a sculpture.
Two pieces of publicly funded infrastructure and art collided to make the surreal art for our times. pic.twitter.com/mipd1Hnz8B
— Sam Sharma (@s3rioussam) November 2, 2020
Watch Video:
LOOK: The driver of a metro train escaped injury when the front carriage rammed through the end of an elevated section of rails and was caught by a sculpture of a whale's tail near the Dutch city of Rotterdam. There were no passengers onboard pic.twitter.com/qaXjPuyHkn
— Bloomberg QuickTake (@QuickTake) November 2, 2020
Work in Progress to Release the Metro
Artful death dodger. Police and fire crews surround scene trying to establish how to release the metro #spijkenisse pic.twitter.com/I36qpxIVK2
— anna holligan 🎙 (@annaholligan) November 2, 2020
Here Are More Pics From the Scene!
Bij metrostation De Akkers in Spijkenisse is een metro door het stootblok heengereden. Het treinstel bungelt zo'n 8 meter boven de grond en rust op een kunstwerk. Gekeken wordt hoe de metro geborgen kan worden. De metrobestuurder is voor controle naar het ziekenhuis gebracht. pic.twitter.com/rZFaNljw5y
— Joey Bremer (@010fotograaf) November 2, 2020
Engineers at the spot are reportedly studying as to how they can safely remove the train carriage from the whale’s tail. Meanwhile, investigation into how the incident occurred is ongoing.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 03, 2020 11:58 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).