A passenger train in northwest Turkey ignored a stop signal and rammed into an oncoming train Wednesday, killing six people and injuring 85 others, officials said, in the nation's third deadly rail accident in as many weeks.
Rescue workers in blue and orange jumpsuits climbed through the wreckage near the village of Tavsancil in Kocaeli province, some 80km east of Istanbul, to recover trapped and smashed bodies. They threw mangled pieces of metal out the shattered windows and used axes and torches to cut through the wreckage.
PHOTO: AP
The prime minister's office announced that six people were killed in the accident and 85 people were injured.
Earlier the semiofficial Anatolia news agency, quoting prosecutor Veysel Eroglu, who is investigating the accident, reported that nine people were killed in the crash. But the agency later reported the death toll at six. There was no explanation for the discrepancy.
A few bodies were still believed to be trapped inside the wreckage.
Armed troops were guarding the site.
By nightfall, rescue operations had largely ended and emergency crews were using flashlights to search inside the wreckage for any bodies.
The accident occurred after a train traveling from Ankara to Istanbul ignored a signal and failed to stop at a junction, Cemal Yaman, an official of a local branch of the train workers' union told the Anatolia news agency. The train was carrying 153 passengers and nine crew members.
Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said, "One of the trains passed a red light. When the [engineer] noticed he tried to reduce speed but unfortunately the accident occurred."
However, conductor Hasan Yucedag told Anatolia from his hospital bed that "the light was green for us. It suddenly turned red as we were about to cross."
Yucedag suffered a broken arm.
The other train was traveling from Istanbul to Adapazari in northwestern Turkey, officials said.
The Prime Minister's Crisis Center said 85 people were injured. Most of the injured were released from hospital by nightfall.
Mahmut Yanmis, who survived the accident, told CNN-Turk television the collision occurred after his train left Tavsancil station.
"I made my way through a broken window," said Yanmis, who had stitches on his head and scratches on his arms. "When I went out of the car, I saw the decapitated body of a conductor trapped at the gate of the locomotive.
"I saw the passenger sitting next to me dead. Body pieces were scattered everywhere."
At the crash site, a middle-aged man screamed, "My God! My God! Ismail! Ismail!" in apparent reference to a victim.
Several relatives or friends sat on the bumper of an ambulance, waiting for news. One man sat with his head between his hands, crying.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
RSS