Türkiye road crashes kill 16 people

Nine people were killed and 26 others injured when a passenger bus rolled off a road and plunged into a ravine in southern Türkiye’s Antalya province on Sunday (1 February), local officials said. In a separate incident, at least seven people were killed in a collision in a tunnel.

The first crash involved a bus carrying 34 passengers from Tekirdağ to Antalya, which overturned after the driver failed to negotiate a bend in rainy, foggy conditions according to witnesses.

The accident occurred at approximately 10:20 AM near the Kömürler intersection in the Döşemealtı district of Antalya.

Images and drone footage showed the bus lying on its side in a 15-metre-deep ditch beside the highway as emergency teams attended to the injured and carried victims on stretchers.

Survivor Ahmet Kodaz described the moments before the crash, “There was already fog on the road, and the driver was going very fast. When we came to a bend, the bus couldn’t make the turn. First it tilted sideways and slid, then it broke through the barrier and rolled down the embankment with the passengers.”

Antalya Governor Hulusi Şahin confirmed that the driver was among those killed and said seven of the injured were in critical condition, some with severe wounds that may require amputations.

Emergency crews from the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, AFAD, the police, the gendarmerie, and local hospitals were deployed to the scene.

Şahin noted that heavy rainfall and dense fog were reported along the route at the time of the crash.

“It was raining and the ground is wet. There was also some fog at that time. It appears the bus entered the intersection very fast,” he said.

The bus hit roadside barriers before overturning and falling into the ditch.

Justice Minister of Türkiye Yılmaz Tunç said a judicial investigation had been launched into the accident, with one deputy chief prosecutor and two public prosecutors assigned to examine the case. Technical inspections will be conducted to determine the precise cause of the crash.

Kazak Tunnel accident

Later on Sunday, a separate collision on the Antalya-Isparta highway near the Kazak Tunnel in Burdur province killed seven people and injured five others. Emergency services, including the fire department, gendarmerie, and 112 Emergency Medical Services (EMS) teams, responded to the scene.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya expressed condolences and criticised Türkiye’s “traffic culture,” highlighting that a total of 6,351 people died on Turkish roads in 2024.

He said existing proposals to tighten traffic laws would be implemented to improve road safety.

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