Full passenger bus crashes on Central Anatolia highway, killing 21

KAYSERİ

The accident occurred at around 2:30 a.m. on a highway connecting Kayseri to Malatya. AA photo

Twenty-one people were killed after a passenger bus crashed due to intense fog and ice in the Central Anatolian province of Kayseri early on Jan. 23, in one of Turkey’s deadliest road accidents of recent years.

Twenty-two other people are reported injured, including two who are in a critical condition.

Owned by a small company, the bus was on overnight service that had departed from Istanbul for the eastern province of Muş. 

The accident occurred at around 2:30 a.m. near Kayseri, where the bus lost control due to icing and crashed into the median strip. The bus tumbled over several times before falling into a ditch on the opposite side of the road. 

Kayseri Gov. Orhan Düzgün said that some of the passengers died when they jumped out of the vehicle's windows. 

The injured passengers were immediately rushed to hospitals in Kayseri. 

Overnight bus journeys are a feature of life in Turkey, as many bus companies choose to operate at night and thus avoid traffic.