TURKEY BUS CRASH LEAVES 13 DEAD

◗ The bus was travelling from Istanbul to Tokat and hit the truck on a motorway in Corum province

Istanbul, March 13: Thirteen people including children were killed and 20 others injured on Tuesday when a Turkish passenger bus burst into flames after colliding with a truck in northern Anatolia, state media reported.

The bus, which was travelling from Istanbul to the northern city of Tokat, hit the truck on a motorway in Corum province early in the morning, according to the government- run Andalou news agency. Medical teams and fire engines rushed to the scene. Pictures showed that the bus had been reduced to a burnt- out shell by the fire that erupted after the crash.

The local governor’s office said the truck was parked on the motorway hard shoulder when the bus hit. It added that an investigation had been launched into the accident. Local mayor Hamza Karatas said children were among the dead without providing precise details, the private Dogan news agency reported. One of the injured, Emine Gungor, who was rescued from the accident with her baby, said all the passengers in the bus had been sleeping.