At least 11 university students killed in bus crash in Turkey

KAYSERİ

DHA Photo

At least 11 people have been killed and 31 wounded in two consecutive crashes involving two buses that were carrying university students who went for a ski trip at Mount Erciyes.

A minibus carrying 35 Niğde University students returning from a ski center in Erciyes went out of control and crashed into an electric pole in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri at around 5 p.m. on Dec. 21, daily Hürriyet reported.

Kayseri Gov. Orhan Düzgün said nine people were killed and 26 others were injured in the first incident. A few hours later, the death toll from the crash rose to 11 as two students suffering heavy injuries reportedly died in hospital.

Meanwhile, another minibus that was also carrying Niğde University students hit and wounded people and health personnel trying to carry wounded victims to an ambulance, turning the accident site into a war scene.

The second minibus resulted in the injuries of five more people.

Reinforcements were immediately dispatched to area to help to clear up the scene.

Ambulances transported wounded victims to several hospitals across the city.

Düzgün said the minibus driver's testimony and the initial findings indicated a brake failure as the most possible the reason for the first crash.

“Our traffic teams revealed the vehicle’s last two brake examinations had been skipped, and (the minibus) dids not have documents permitting it to carry passengers. It is a minibus that doesn't fulfill intercity transportation requirements,” he said.

The governor also informed that only some of the students’ identities could be determined and that some students’ families had yet to be informed about the accident.