Explosion derails freight train in Turkey's south

OSMANİYE - Doğan News Agency

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Two cars of a freight train derailed after a blast hit a railroad in the southern province of Osmaniye today. 
 
A powerful blast ripped through a part of the railroad three kilometers away from the Yarbaşı train station in Osmaniye at a railroad connecting the southern provinces of Hatay and the eastern province of Malatya at around 9:25 a.m., just as a freight train consisting of 31 cars, 10 of which were filled with coal, were passing. 
 
Two empty cars derailed, while the blast left a 1.5-meter-deep hole in the ground. Train operators Orhan Yılrıdım and Volkan Alkan were not injured in the attack, whose perpetrators were not immediately known. However, suspicion fell on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is known to be active in the region around the Amanos Mountains where the attack happened. 
 
A number of alleged suspects were reportedly seen fleeing toward the Amanos Mountains immediately after the blast. The gendarmerie, who believe the attack was carried out by a remotely detonated explosive device, launched an operation to apprehend the assailants.
 
The railroad connecting the southern provinces of Adana, Kahramanmaraş and Gaziantep was closed to transportation due to the damage caused by the blast.