Storms kill six, injure 100 all across Turkey

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Raging storms damaged cars and streets, toppled roofs and bus stops all across Turkey. Six people died and more than 100 were injured in the storm. AA photo

Powerful winds at speeds reaching up to 150 kilometers per hour wreaked havoc across Turkey yesterday, killing six, injuring 100 and sparking forest fires.

High winds in the Central Anatolian province of Konya led to a sandstorm that caused a pileup on the Konya-Ankara and Konya-Ereğli highways, killing four and injuring 73.

Nazife Gümüş, a 51-year-old woman in the Central Anatolian province of Kırıkkale, was killed when strong winds blew a tile off of a roof, hitting her in the head.

Meanwhile, a passenger bus carrying Spanish tourists to the Central Anatolian province of Aksaray hit a cargo truck from the rear due to low visibility caused by the sandstorms. All but one of the 35 tourists on the bus were injured.

Some 600 hectares of forest land were burned in a fire caused by raging storms in the district of Safranbolu in the Black Sea province of Karabük. The province’s deputy governor, Ertuğ Şevket Aksoy, said the fire had been brought under control and that efforts to cool the blaze were underway.

“[Reports indicate] the fire was caused by a short circuit in electricity transmission lines during rampaging storms. ... We can say the fire has been extinguished,” Aksoy said.