Dozens killed, wounded in road accidents in Turkey

Sixteen people including emergency workers and journalists died when a bus crashed into an earlier accident site, regional governor Davut Gul from south-eastern province of Gaziantep, said. Another 20 people were wounded and received treatment.

“At around 10.45 this morning, a passenger bus crashed here,” Gul stated, speaking from the scene of the accident on the road east of Gaziantep.

“While the fire brigade, medical teams and other colleagues were responding to the accident, another bus crashed 200 metres behind. The second bus slid to this site and hit the first responders and the wounded people on the ground,” Gul added.

Three firefighters, two paramedics and two journalists were among those killed on the highway between Gaziantep and Nizip, the interior minister, Süleyman Soylu, tweeted. Several of the fatalities were on the bus, he added.

The Ilhas news agency said two of its journalists were killed after pulling over to help the victims of the initial accident.

Television footage showed an ambulance with severe damage to its rear while a bus lay on its side alongside the highway.

Separately, a truck hit a site 250km (155 miles) to the east in the Derik district of Mardin, where first respondents were also attending to an accident, according to footage.

Sixteen people died and 29 others were injured as a result of the incident in Mardin, Turkey’s health minister, Fahrettin Koca, said, adding that eight of the wounded were in a critical condition.

Turkey has a poor record of road safety. According to the government, 5,362 people were killed in traffic accidents last year.