Ten people were killed and over 70 passengers were injured when a train came off the rails in northwest Turkey Sunday, Demiroren news agency reported.
The state news agency Anadolu said that five wagons came off the tracks in a region near the country’s Greek border. The train, which was carrying more than 300 passengers, was heading to Istanbul.
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“A suburban train had an accident due to a landfall. Unfortunately we have fatalities and casualties,” a statement from the prime minister’s office read.
The governor of Tekiradg, about 120 km west of Istanbul, blamed heavy rain for the derailment.
“Our helicopter ambulances have reached the site. Many of those injured have been taken off the site,” governor Mehmet Ceylan said.
President Tayyip Erdogan’s office said Erdogan had received information from the ministers of transport and interior about the incident, and sent condolences for those killed.
Television images showed emergency personnel walking to reach the crash site. Private news channel CNN Turk said the accident was caused by a collapsed bridge.
Emergency services and military helicopters have arrived at the scene. The head of Turkey’s emergency and disaster services said the muddy area was hard to reach.
-With files from Reuters and the Associated Press.