The Herald

Nine killed as trains collide

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A HIGH-SPEED train hit a railway engine and crashed into a pedestrian overpass at a station in the Turkish capital, killing nine people and injuring 47 others.

The early-morning train from Ankara to the central city of Konya collided head-on with the engine, which was checking tracks at the capital’s small Marsandiz station, Transport Minister Mehmet Cahit Turhan said.

The high-speed train normally passes through that station without stopping.

At least two carriages derailed, hitting the station’s overpass, which then collapsed on to the train.

Three engine drivers and six passengers were killed in the crash, Mr Turhan said. One of the passengers died after being taken to hospital, while others were killed at the scene.

Television footage showed emergency services working to rescue passengers from mangled carriages and debris. The Hurriyet newspaper said sniffer dogs assisted efforts to find survivors.

Mr Turhan said everyone has been removed from the debris and no one else is believed to be trapped.

It was not immediatel­y clear if a signalling problem caused the crash. Ankara governor Vasip Sahin said a technical inspection had begun while NTV television, quoting unnamed officials, said three prosecutor­s were assigned to investigat­e.

In July, 10 people were killed and more than 70 injured when most of a passenger train derailed in north-western Turkey, after torrential rain caused part of the rail tracks to collapse.

Last month, 15 people were injured when a passenger train collided with a freight train in the central province of Sivas.

Konya, about 160 miles south of Ankara, is home to the tomb of the Sufi mystic and poet Jalaladdin Rumi, attracting thousands of pilgrims and tourists.

The crash occurred during an annual week of remembranc­e for Rumi, when many travel to Konya to watch whirling dervishes perform.

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 ??  ?? „ Rescuers and salvage crews work their way through the wreckage in the hunt for survivors after a high-speed train hit an engine inspecting tracks at a suburban station in Ankara. It then hit a pedestrian overpass, bringing it down on to the wreckage. Many people had to be cut from the wreckage.
„ Rescuers and salvage crews work their way through the wreckage in the hunt for survivors after a high-speed train hit an engine inspecting tracks at a suburban station in Ankara. It then hit a pedestrian overpass, bringing it down on to the wreckage. Many people had to be cut from the wreckage.
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