More than 60 killed in car accidents since the start of Eid holiday

ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

A total of 62 people were killed while another 201 were injured in traffic accidents across Turkey over the past four days, as the nine-day Eid holiday kicked off on July 2 amid fears the death toll would continue to rise. 

A total of 18 people were killed and 29 were injured in separate accidents that took place on the first day of the holiday in the provinces of Antalya, Aydın, Bursa, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Trabzon and Şanlıurfa. 

Five were killed in a major accident in the northwestern province of Bolu when a trucking rig carrying paint thinner hit the entrance of a tunnel in the city’s Mengen district and burst into flames. 

The driver, Cevat Ceylan, 50, three of his daughters, Elif Ceylan, 23, Beyza Nur Ceylan, 22, Ayşe Nur Ceylan, 20, and another relative, Umut Talha Ceylan, 3, lost their lives in the accident. Two people traveling in a car also involved in the accident were injured. 

The series of accidents continued on July 3 when some 26 people lost their lives and 72 others were injured across the country. A day later, on July 4, 19 people died and 48 people sustained injuries in accidents that mainly occurred in the country’s Black Sea region and southeastern provinces.

The toll stalled to an extent on July 5, when the density of the traffic decreased, as four people died in accidents in Bolu, the Mediterranean resort province of Antalya and northern Anatolian province of Çorum.

The week starting with July 4 marks Eid al-Fitr, which celebrates the end of Ramadan, and people have taken to the highways to spend the vacation with their families or at coastal resorts. 

Turkish authorities declared a nine-day public holiday starting from July 2 and continuing until July 10. 

Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, is a time when Muslims abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex from sunrise to sunset.