Fifty-two passengers escape death from burning bus

EDİRNE - Doğan News Agency

A bus travelling from Istanbul to Çanakkale with 52 passengers caught on fire near the Keşan district of the province of Edirne early July 30. Miraculously, no one was hurt despite the incident took place early in the morning. Passengers warned the driver when they noticed a smell coming from the motor. The driver stopped the vehicle and everyone was able to get off of the bus, preventing a possible disaster.

The incident happened around 4 a.m. near the Yenimuhacir junction on Malkara-Keşan road. The bus was being driven by Mahir Yüksel. After all of the passengers were evacuated, the fire grew and destroyed the entire vehicle.

While the road was closed to traffic, firefighters had difficulty approaching the vehicle. Only after one and a half hours was the fire able to be extinguished. The 52 passengers were sent to Çanakkale with another bus. Yüksel was taken to the police station for his statement. The cause of the fire is being inspected.

Another bus crashed into the first floor balcony of an apartment building, injuring two sisters who were sleeping on the balcony. The bus, which was parked on the side of the road in Binevler neighborhood, began rolling after its breaks began to fail. The sisters are in critical condition.

108 killed in four days

At least 108 people have been killed and 4,002 injured in crashes across Turkey since July 26, as hundreds of thousands of citizens hit the roads to mark the Eid al-Fitr holiday. On July 27, four people were burnt to death when a public bus, which was traveling from Tuzla to Topkapı, caught fire as it was proceeding on the TEM highway in Kavacık on the Asian side.