Thousands of people gathered for a silent march Sunday evening in Axel, Zeeland, to remember victims of a fatal traffic accident [1].
The event marks a moment of collective mourning for a community devastated by the loss of four members of a primary school, including children.
The procession took place near the N290 road at Terhole and concluded in front of primary school De Warande [2]. Participants wore white garments [1] as they walked in silence to honor the deceased. At the school, the crowd observed two minutes of silence [4].
The tragedy occurred this Thursday during a bike trip involving 14 group-8 pupils [3]. The collision killed three of those pupils and the director of primary school De Warande [1].
Reports on the size of the gathering vary. While some sources state that thousands of people attended [1], other reports describe the crowd as several hundred people [2]. Despite the difference in numbers, a growing sea of flowers was left at the site of the accident [2].
The march was announced by a spokesperson for the municipality of Terneuzen [1]. The community gathered to pay tribute to the victims, and support the families and classmates of the children involved in the crash [1, 2].
“The collision killed three of those pupils and the director of primary school De Warande.”
This event underscores the profound impact of localized tragedies on small communities, where the loss of a school leader and multiple students creates a widespread void. The disparity in reported attendance figures suggests a high level of community mobilization that may have exceeded initial local estimates, reflecting the deep emotional resonance of the accident within the Zeeland region.
