Saved by the Whale's Tail

In a remarkable turn of events in the Netherlands, a metro train near Rotterdam overshot the end of its elevated tracks and crashed through a safety barrier. But instead of plunging into the water below, it was dramatically saved by a sculpture-a giant whale tail.

The artwork, fittingly titled "Saved by the Whale's Tail," had been installed at the De Akkers station in Spijkenisse back in 2002.

Meant purely as a piece of public art, it unexpectedly became a literal lifesaver when the train came to rest on one of the whale's raised fins, suspended about 10 meters in the air.

Amazingly, no one was injured. The driver, who was alone on the train at the time, walked away unharmed. Investigations later showed the train had been moving faster than allowed, which contributed to the accident.

What started as a public art installation ended up preventing a potential disaster-an incident that seemed almost too poetic to be real.