24 killed, hundreds injured after train derailment in northwest Turkey
A train packed with more than 360 passengers derailed in northwest Turkey on Sunday, leaving at least 24 people dead and hundreds injured, local officials said.
Health Minister Ahmet Demircan reported that at least 318 people were hurt during the derailment, with at least 124 still being treated in hospitals, according to the Associated Press.
Emergency services rescue victims from overturned train cars near a village in Tekirdag province, Turkey on Sunday, July 8, 2018. (Mehmet Yirun/DHA-Depo Photos via AP)
The train was traveling from Edirne on border with Greece to Istanbul when five of its six carriages derailed in the Tekirdag region.
"The accident happened because of adverse weather conditions," Tekirdag governor Mehmet Ceylan told the NTV channel.
Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan said other trains had used the route earlier Sunday, and that the rain caused extraordinary swelling under the tracks, triggering a landslide.
Passenger train derails in #Turkey causing multiple casualties. Ambulances have been sent to the scene. https://t.co/HvnM2PirVo pic.twitter.com/sj5qZxREbL
— Benjamin Alvarez (@BenjAlvarez1) July 8, 2018
However, a Turkish engineering union issued a statement saying a drainage system near the crash site was incorrectly built.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that a full investigation into the crash will be conducted.
Television pictures showed several train carriages toppled over on their sides and shocked, injured people being taken away on stretchers.
The Turkish army said in a statement that it had sent helicopters to the scene.
The train involved in the accident appeared to be one of the slower passenger trains traveling on a single-track railway.
