Nine killed in train crash in Turkey’s east

ELAZIĞ - Doğan News Agency

Nine people, including four Syrians, were killed while another was heavily injured on the morning of June 20 after a train hit a passenger minibus in the eastern province of Elazığ. 

The train, which was heading from the Tatvan district of the eastern province of Bitlis to the capital Ankara, crashed into the minibus on a level crossing in the central Elazığ town of Yurtbaşı. The shuttle was carrying agricultural workers to a greenhouse, according to reports. 

A total of nine people, including the shuttle’s driver, Mesut Karakoç, and four Syrian workers, died at the scene of the accident. Another passenger in the minibus sustained heavy injuries.

The bodies of the nine victims were left at scene for the investigation into the incident, while the wounded person, whose identity remains unclear, was promptly transferred to an Elazığ hospital.

Meanwhile, news reports underlined that the level crossing did not include either a barrier or a warning to prevent such accidents from occurring.

Elazığ Mayor Murat Zorluoğlu went to the crossing to inspect the scene of the accident and told reporters that the minibus had been pushed by the train for around 400 meters. 

“The accident took place early in the morning. A passenger train operating between Tatvan and Ankara hits a minibus carrying greenhouse workers at a crossing. It slid for some 400 meters,” Zorluoğlu said, defining the incident as a “deplorable accident.”