Court notes ‘defendant’s trust in luck’ in Çorlu train crash

TEKİRDAĞ

A Tekirdağ court’s reasoned decision has highlighted the grave negligence of the defendants in the deadly train accident in 2018, stating that they "left the matter to chance."

The train, carrying 362 passengers and six staff from Edirne to Istanbul, derailed and overturned near the northwestern province of Tekirdağ’s Çorlu district on July 8, 2018.

Twenty-five people were killed, while seven of the victims were children.

In the recently concluded trial last month, nine out of the 13 defendants have been sentenced to prison terms, including public officials affiliated with the Turkish State Railways (TCDD).

The reasoned decision released on May 20 emphasized the primary fault of the TCDD officials in the fatal accident.

The defendants had consulted on the possibility of severe local rainfall causing damage to the railway tracks prior to the accident, the court said.

However, they consciously neglected to take necessary precautions, “relying on luck” and assuming that no similar incidents had occurred in the area before, ultimately resulting in fatalities.

"They foresaw the potential for localized and severe rainfall in the accident-prone section of the track and its potential to cause damage to the railway line, yet they failed to monitor the weather conditions, relying on luck and the belief that it would not happen due to the absence of previous similar incidents in the region."

The legal proceedings were initiated following an investigation launched in September 2022, which led to the expansion of the case against nine additional defendants.