In Aubange, in Belgium’s Luxembourg province, a lorry carrying hazardous products, several crashed vehicles and a school bus formed the scenario for a crisis exercise held on 10 November. Nearly 100 Belgian, French and Luxembourgish responders took part, along with 50 volunteers playing victims. The aim was to test coordination between emergency services from three countries, not to respond to a real accident.
The exercise took place on 10 November. For the teams involved, the challenge was not just the number of simulated casualties: they had to share information and make decisions in a scenario where several dangers unfolded one after another.
A fictional chain-reaction accident
The scenario began with a collision between a car and a lorry transporting chemicals. Spilled drums led to the release of hazardous substances. In the imagined sequence of events, vehicles stopped further up the road and were hit by a school bus. Another car struck a gas main after being caught off guard by the accident.
This chain of events required the teams to consider several risks at once: casualties needing assistance, a chemical hazard and a damaged gas installation in the scenario. It also made it possible to test how information from different locations and services could be passed on and taken into account. The drums, bus and gas leak were part of the staging; no real victims were involved.
The emergency zone of Belgium’s Luxembourg province organised the operation. Belgian, French and Luxembourgish services took part in the exercise. This joint presence gives Aubange a tangible cross-border dimension, but does not mean that the three countries follow the same procedures or that their services come under a single authority.
Three countries, decisions to coordinate
In a simulated crisis of this scale, coordination also depends on the flow of information: what danger has been identified, which teams have been deployed, and what decisions need to be relayed to the other responders. The exercise announcement specifically emphasised the speed of information-sharing, coordination and decision-making under pressure.
The deployment brought together nearly 100 operational responders and 50 volunteers. Articles by RTBF and « L’Avenir » also describe the participation of several types of services, including emergency services, police and medical services. The volunteers brought the scenario to life by playing victims; they do not represent a count of people who were actually injured.
The operation was not limited to the teams at the site. « L’Avenir » reports that coordination took place from Libramont, in the presence of the governor of Luxembourg province, Olivier Schmitz. This organisation is a reminder that a major response must bring together teams dealing directly with the situation and decisions made at a broader level.
Testing cooperation, then drawing lessons
A crisis exercise is a way to test procedures in a prepared setting. Here, the stated aims focused on communication between services, coordination and the decisions to be made as a situation evolved. The organisers also wanted to identify any weaknesses in these exchanges, in order to better prepare for cross-border responses.
According to « L’Avenir », a debriefing was still due to draw lessons from the exercise. An account of this stage would be needed to establish what difficulties had been observed and what improvements, if any, had been decided on.
For residents of Aubange and neighbouring municipalities, the key point is simple: the many vehicles and responders seen on 10 November were taking part in a simulation, not attending an accident involving hazardous materials. For the services involved, the exercise provided a shared setting in which Belgian, French and Luxembourgish teams could practise passing on information and making decisions, without erasing the differences between their organisations.
References
- RTBF, full-scale exercise in Aubange
- L’Avenir, emergency services deployed in Aubange on 10 November
- RTL Infos, cross-border exercise in Aubange
A CGDIS vehicle at the National Fire and Rescue Centre. Illustrative photo, separate from the Aubange exercise.
