Derailed Train Car Saved When It Lands on Whale Sculpture

It was the ultimate catch of the day as a massive whale sculpture caught a derailed train car in Spijkenisse, near the city of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. The train car had crashed through a barrier at the end of the tracks shortly before midnight on Sunday.

The train, which was on an elevated outdoor platform, was at risk of crashing into the water below after it broke through the barrier, but a sculpture of a whale fin caught the locomotive.

"We are trying to decide how we can bring the train down in a careful and controlled manner," one official told the Dutch national broadcaster NOS on Monday.

Luckily, no one was aboard the train and the driver was able to leave the car by himself. He was taken to a hospital to be examined but was not believed to have suffered any injuries.

The sculpture, called Whale Tails, was created by artist Maarten Struijs in 2002. Struijs told NOS that he was surprised the structure did not break.

"It has been there for almost 20 years and ... you actually expect the plastic to pulverize a bit, but that is apparently not the case," he said. "I'll make sure that I get a few photos. I could never have imagined it that way."

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