Europe 1 with AFP 9:22 p.m., August 20, 2022
At least 32 people were killed and 50 others injured in two road accidents in southeastern Turkey on Saturday, Turkish media reported.
According to Turkey's official Anadolu news agency, a traffic accident involving three vehicles had occurred at the same location shortly before.
At least 32 people were killed and 50 others injured in two road accidents in southeastern Turkey on Saturday, Turkish media reported.
A first accident involving an ambulance and a coach left 16 dead and 21 injured on a highway linking the city of Gaziantep to that of Nizip.
According to the Turkish news agency DHA, an ambulance, a fire truck and a vehicle belonging to a team of journalists - which had gone to the scene of an accident - were hit head-on by a bus traveling on the same highway.
Four rescuers, three firefighters and two journalists from the Turkish news agency Ilhas are among the 16 dead, according to local media.
A truck driver lost control of his vehicle
Images released by the DHA agency showed the rear of an ambulance partially shredded as well as the coach involved in the accident, lying on one side and with the front ripped open.
A few hours later, 16 other people were killed and nearly 30 injured 250 km further east in an accident involving a heavy goods vehicle, according to Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca.
"16 people lost their lives and 29 others were injured, eight of them seriously, in the accident following the breakage of the brakes of a truck which hit a crowd in Derik", in the province of Mardin, said Minister Fahrettin Koca on Twitter.
Videos broadcast by the Turkish press show a driver losing control of his truck, hitting several vehicles at full speed and pedestrians trying to flee.
İkinci bir trafik kazası haberiyle daha sarsıldık.
Mardin'in Derik ilçesi üç yol mevkiinde freni patlayan tırın kalabalığın arasına girmesi sonucu meydana gelen kazada 16 kişi hayatını kaybetti, 8'i ağır olmak üzere 29 kişi yaralandı.
— Dr. Fahrettin Koca (@drfahrettinkoca) August 20, 2022
According to Turkey's official Anadolu news agency, a traffic accident involving three vehicles had occurred at the same location shortly before, and rescue teams were on the scene when the truck drove into the crowd.