First death from accident in new Taksim tunnel

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

DHA Photo

A motorcycle driver lost his life yesterday in an accident in the newly built Taksim Tunnel.

Twenty-four-year-old Oğuzhan Bövelek and his girlfriend, 26-year-old Alev Eşiyok failed to negotiate the tunnel’s bend and hit the wall.

Bövelek was taken to the Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Research Hospital, but doctors were unable to save him. Eşiyok, whose feet were broken, was rushed to the Okmeydanı Research Hospital, where she is being treated. 

An eyewitness said both Bövelek and Eşiyok were wearing helmets, but were driving very fast.

Traffic started flowing once again in Istanbul’s Taksim Square Sept. 13 after the completion of the controversial pedestrianization project.

The road between Tarlabaşı Boulevard and Cumhuriyet Avenue was reopened to traffic after almost a year of construction work, with vehicle traffic directed underground and all shops removed from a 98,000-square-meter area around Taksim Square.