ISTANBUL: Ten people were killed and 73 injured on Sunday when a trainpacked with weekend passengers derailed in northwest Turkey, sate-run TRTHaber television said, quoting the health ministry.
The train, with 360 people on board, was travelling from Kapikule on theBulgarian border to Istanbul when six of its carriages derailed in theTekirdag region.
Over 100 ambulances have been sent to the scene, TRT Haber said, quotingHealth Ministry Undersecretary Eyup Gumus. The Turkish army said in astatement that it had sent helicopters to the scene.
Television pictures showed several train carriages laying on their sides,and shocked injured being taken away on stretchers.
“There are a large number of injured and we have fatalities,” Tekirdaggovernor Mehmet Ceylan told the NTV channel. “The accident happened becauseof adverse weather conditions,” he added.
Reports said the surrounding area was muddy due to recent rains.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been informed over the accident andexpressed his condolences over those who lost their lives, state-runAnadolu news agency said.
Turkish authorities under Erdogan have over the last years sought tomodernise Turkey’s once ramshackle rail network, building several highspeed inter-city lines.
The train involved in the accident appeared to be one of the slowerpassenger trains travelling on a single track railway.