Turkey A truck drives into a crowd at least 16

Turkey: A truck drives into a crowd, at least 16 dead and 29 injured

At least 16 people were killed and 29 injured in a new road accident in Turkey this Saturday after a truck accidentally drove into pedestrians, according to Turkey’s health minister.

“16 people died and 29 others were injured, eight of them seriously, in the accident that occurred after the brakes broke on a truck driven to Derik in Mardin province (in the south-east of the country, near the Syrian border , Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.

Videos broadcast by the Turkish press show a driver losing control of his truck, several vehicles hitting full speed and pedestrians trying to flee.

According to the official Turkish news agency Anadolu, a traffic accident involving three vehicles had occurred shortly before in the same place. Rescue workers were on site when the truck drove into the crowd.

This Saturday morning, another accident on a Turkish highway between Gaziantep and Nizip 250 km to the west has already claimed 16 lives and 21 injured. An ambulance, a fire engine and a vehicle belonging to a journalist team traveling to the first scene of the accident were hit head-on by a passenger bus traveling on the same highway.

Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag announced the launch of an investigation by Derik’s Attorney General’s Office into the double accident, according to Anadolu Agency.

“I wish mercy to our citizens who lost their lives in this tragic accident (…). All of our resources are being mobilized,” he wrote on Twitter, wishing the injured “a speedy recovery.”

Turkey’s Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu will pay a visit on Saturday night on orders from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Anadolu Agency reported.