One person seriously injured in chain collision on Brussels’ Van Praetlaan

Updated 17 August 2026 at 18:30 CEST — One person was seriously injured in a chain collision on Van Praetlaan in Brussels on Monday, VRT NWS reported. Emergency services attended the crash, but authorities had not disclosed the victim’s identity, the precise time of the collision or the number of vehicles involved by the time of publication.

The cause also remains unknown. No official account has established the sequence of impacts, the direction in which the vehicles were travelling or whether anyone else was hurt. Belgium Pulse has therefore not attributed responsibility to any road user. Further information is expected from the Brussels emergency services or the Brussels Capital–Ixelles police zone.

Van Praetlaan is a major traffic corridor in Laeken, linking northern Brussels with the Van Praet Bridge and routes towards the A12. A serious collision there can disrupt journeys across a wider part of the city’s northern road network, although no current closure or diversion had been independently confirmed when this article was updated.

The avenue has seen other serious crashes, but those incidents do not establish the cause of Monday’s collision. BRUZZ reported that four people suffered minor injuries in a separate crash there in May 2025, when the avenue was temporarily closed towards the A12. In July 2025, Brussels police confirmed that an electric-scooter rider died after a collision with a car at the nearby junction of Van Praetlaan and Vilvoordsesteenweg, according to BRUZZ.

Road safety remains a stated regional priority. Brussels Mobility says the Capital Region is pursuing a target of no road deaths or serious injuries by 2030 through lower speeds, enforcement and safer street design. That wider policy provides context, but officials have not linked Monday’s chain collision to speeding, road layout or any other factor.

For residents and commuters, the immediate questions are whether traffic restrictions remain in force and when the road will operate normally. Investigators must establish how the vehicles collided, while medical authorities will determine the injured person’s prognosis. Until police or prosecutors release those findings, the circumstances and responsibility remain unconfirmed.