At least 18 people died in two separate accidents on Friday in Turkey, including seven school children killed when a train slammed into their minibus at a railway crossing, Anatolia news agency and CNN-Turk television reported.
The children were killed on the spot when the express train from the western city of Izmir to capital Ankara ripped into the white minibus at Temelli, about 64km west of Ankara, local officials said.
Seven other children and the minibus driver, who lost his son in the accident, were injured.
A local official blamed the accident on the minibus driver’s negligence.
”There is definitely carelessness and hastiness involved… According to the information we received, the minibus tried to cross the railway even though it was warned not to by a truck on the opposite side,” Muammer Aksoy, the governor of the nearby town of Polatli, was quoted by Anatolia as saying.
There were no immediate reports of any injuries aboard the train whose driver was taken in for questioning, NTV television reported.
Parents, on hearing news of the crash, rushed to the scene, CNN-Turk said.
Television footage showed the white minibus ripped open and school books scattered all around.
Meanwhile, in a second accident, this time north-east of Ankara, near Merzifon, 11 people were killed early on Friday in a road crash involving a bus and a truck which both caught fire, Anatolia said.
Some 28 people were hurt in this second accident.
Traffic accidents are common in Turkey where drivers generally have little regard for safety regulations and road rules. According to police statistics, in 2002 some 2 900 people were killed and 94 225 injured in 407 103 accidents.
Turkish statistics for road deaths however only take account of those killed at the scene and not those who later die in hospital.
In recent years, authorities have launched several nationwide campaigns urging drivers to wear seat belts and slow down. – Sapa-AFP