CHP leader calls Çorlu train accident a ‘murder’

TEKİRDAĞ

Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on July 18 called a recent train accident due in Çorlu as “murder” because the necessary precautions had not been met by authorities.

“This is murder. There is no other explanation for this incident,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, visiting the injured victims of the incident. The CHP leader revealed a document dated May 30, in which the Turkish State Railways warned against possible damage due to heavy rain and asked for the necessary security measures to be taken.

The requirements of the warning were not met, he said. Kılıçdaroğlu said two drivers would be accused for the incident but at the end of the day, the real reason for its cause is due to a lack of precautionary measures.

The CHP leader said his party would follow the developments on the incident.

Two drivers of the train were detained on July 9 as part of the investigation.

At least 24 people were killed and more than 341 injured July 8 when most of a passenger train derailed in northwestern Turkey.

The train was heading to Istanbul from Edirne, on the border with Greece, with 362 passengers and six crew members, the Transport Ministry said.

The ministry also said five of the train’s six cars derailed in a village in the Tekirdağ province after “the ground between the culvert and the rails collapsed” due to heavy rains.