At least 24 people were killed and 124 others injured after a passenger train derailed in Turkey’s northwestern Tekirdag province on Sunday, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
Deputy Prime Minister Akdağ on Monday said that search and rescue operations in Tekirdağ had been completed.
The train, carrying 362 passengers and six crew members, was traveling from Edirne province to İstanbul when five wagons derailed near the village of Sarılar in Tekirdağ’s Çorlu district.
Mehmet Ceylan, Tekirdağ’s governor, said the accident was caused by heavy rains in the region.
The Ministry of Transport, Maritime Affairs and Communications later said in a statement that the accident occurred after the railway track slipped due to torrential rains.
Meanwhile, Turkish media watchdog the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK) early on Monday lifted a broadcasting ban for the incident.
Turkey’s rail network has been hit by several fatal accidents over the last years.
In January 2008, nine people were killed when a train derailed in the Kütahya region south of İstanbul due to faulty rails.
And in Turkey’s worst recent rail disaster, 41 people were killed and 80 injured in July 2004 when a high-speed train derailed in the northwestern province of Sakarya. (SCF with turkishminute.com)
