Traffic accident kills 5, injures eight in Konya

İZMİR - Doğan News Agency

Five people died while eight others, two in critical condition, were wounded in the traffic accident in Konya. İHA photo

A municipal bus and a service bus collided head on in the central Anatolian province of Konya yesterday at approximately 7:30 a.m. due to foggy weather conditions, killing five passengers and injuring eight more.

“I was going to school with my bicycle. My friends overtook and passed me. [The service bus driver] even greeted me by honking. A short while afterwards, it collided with the municipal bus head on. Two of our friends flew out of the minibus. Five of them died,” said eyewitness Yaşar Oktay, who works in the same high school as the passengers in the service bus.

Konya Gov. Aydın Nezih Doğan and Provincial Police Chief Hüseyin Namal arrived on the scene to examine the situation on Kahramanlar Avenue in the district of Selçuklu.

Preliminary assessments indicated the accident was caused by dense foggy conditions in the area, Doğan said.

Two of the eight injured persons are in critical condition, according to reports.

The service bus driver Osman Dilbar, 29, and passengers Adem Olgun, 44, Ali Kara, 39, Muammer Aydın, 40, and Mehmet Durgut, 31, all died on the spot, while Mustafa Otal from the same bus was seriously injured in the accident.

Municipal bus driver Hasan Özdemir and passengers Ahmet Kaya, Mehmet Fatip Kaya, Can Ahmet Yılmaz, Fatma Öztürk, Süleyman Ali Özbey and police officer Fahri Öztürk were also injured in the accident.

The service bus was reportedly carrying employees working at a cafeteria in a private high school. An investigation into the matter is currently underway.