9 DEAD IN ANKARA TRAIN CRASH
Nearly 50 injured as high-speed train crashes into locomotive
NFrench government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux advising ‘yellow vest’ protesters INE people were killed and nearly 50 injured after a high-speed train crashed into a locomotive here yesterday, officials said.
Transport Minister Cahit Turhan said three of those killed were operators of the train. One of the victims died in hospital, he added.
Turhan said 47 people were injured and Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said 34 of those injured were in hospital for treatment.
Two were in a serious condition, Koca added on Twitter.
The fast train had been on its way from Ankara’s main station to the central province of Konya. According to Hurriyet daily, there were 206 passengers on board.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said three people had been detained. In a speech here, he vowed those responsible would be held to account.
The three were employees of the Turkish state railways agency who were detained over suspected negligence, according to state news agency Anadolu.
“This morning, there was an accident after the 6.30 high-speed train to Konya hit a locomotive tasked with checking rails on the same route,” Ankara governor Vasip Sahin said.
A female witness whose name was not given told NTV broadcaster that the passenger train had not yet increased its speed when the crash happened.
Turhan said the accident took place six minutes after the train left Ankara as it entered the Marsandiz station.
The governor said “technical investigations” were under way to find out what caused the crash in Yenimahalle district.
The Ankara public prosecutor launched an investigation into the crash, Anadolu said.
Images published by Turkish media showed some wagons had derailed and debris from the train scattered on the track, which was covered in snow.
The windows of one wagon were completely broken while another wagon had been smashed after hitting the footbridge, which also collapsed, a reporter at the scene said.
The reporter saw at least seven bodies taken away as rescue workers searched the blue and white wagons covered with debris.
Turkish Red Crescent relief workers distributed blankets and tea to survivors, who were gathered on a road near the scene that had been blocked to traffic.
A relative of one of those aboard the train told NTV some passengers had broken windows and then safely exited the wagons.
One of those killed was Berahitdin Albayrak, a science lecturer and former vice-chancellor at Ankara University, the institution said on Twitter.
Later trains from Konya to Ankara and vice versa were cancelled, the agency reported.