17 killed as bus overturns in Turkey

International Desk: Seventeen people were killed when a minibus carrying illegal migrants crashed Thursday in the eastern province of Van in the latest tragedy to befall migrants flocking to Turkey to cross into Europe.

The minibus was traveling on a road connecting central Van to Özalp district when the driver lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle plunged into a ditch. Authorities said more than 20 people were also injured in the accident, while an investigation is underway into the cause of the accident.

Van Governor Mehmet Emin Bilmez said that the minibus was traveling on a mountainous road when it crashed, and they immediately dispatched rescue crews and ambulances to the scene. Bilmez said the minibus was carrying migrants from Muradiye, a district near the border with Iran. He added that authorities were still trying to identify the victims, but they believed the victims were Afghan, Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationals who make up the majority of illegal migrants intercepted in Van and other provinces near the Iranian-Turkish border. The governor said the perished victims included children.

The driver, a man named Gökan Sırma, was among the dead, Bilmez said.
"They fit 67 people in a minibus that normally seats 17-18 people by removing the seats," Bilmez said.

This is the second-deadliest crash in one month involving illegal migrants traveling in cramped minibuses. Ten Pakistani and Indian migrants were killed and 30 others were injured on June 26 in the northwestern city of Edirne when a minibus crashed into a wall as the driver sped away from gendarme troops trying to stop it.

Source: Agencies

risingbd/ July 19, 2019/Mukul