A Dutch train that smashed through a barrier at a Metro station near Rotterdam has avoided certain calamity by landing on a whale’s tail.

The accident took place at the town of Spijkenisse. Fortunately, after shooting through the buffer at the station and careering to the end of the line, the engine landed on a 10m sculpture of a whale’s tail. The sculpture – by artist Maarten Struijs – was erected in 2002. It actually comprises two tails, and is constructed in reinforced polyester.

Bizarrely, the sculpture is titled Saved by the Whale’s Tail – though, as Struijs admits, he never imagined it might actually save anything, let alone a train. There were no passengers inside the train, and the driver was unharmed.