Driver sleeps, 3 die in bus crash

NİĞDE

Three people have died after a bus, carrying some 44 university students who attended a “Youth Feast” event in the province of Adana, swerved off a highway and crashed in the Central Anatolian province of Niğde.

“The first testimony of the driver shows the accident occurred as he slept on wheel,” Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said late on May 22.

The accident occurred at 4 a.m. while the bus was on route to the province of Konya from Adana, killing three students of Selçuk University and injuring more than 40.

The deceased were studying mechatronics engineering, art history and sociology, said their friends on board.

One of the injured was the driver, who confessed that he slept at the wheel in his first testimony. However, after the first aid, his health situation got worse and the driver, whose identity was not declared, was transferred to a university hospital in Konya.

It is alleged that he has a risk of death.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan issued a condolence message just after the news spread.

“I give my condolences to three young people, who died in an accident while returning to Konya after the feast in Adana that we have held,” Erdoğan said.

The president also wished a quick recovery to all the injured at the accident.

“Some 28 youths are under observation, including five in intensive units. The accident seemed to happen as the driver slept,” Soylu said after visiting the wounded students in a hospital.

All ministers of the cabinet also issued condolence messages.