Republished March 13, 2018 - 5:18 AM
Original Publication Date March 13, 2018 - 12:51 AM
ANKARA, Turkey - A passenger bus hit a truck and burst into flames in central Turkey on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people, including a number of children, an official said.
The bus rammed into the truck that had broken down and stopped on a highway emergency lane in Corum province, the region's chief prosecutor Omer Faruk Yurdagul told reporters after inspecting the site.
The state-run Anadolu Agency initially said 13 people were killed in the accident. Yurdagul said, however, that 11 charred bodies had been recovered so far, adding that the death toll could rise to 14.
At least 21 others were injured in the crash and were taken to nearby hospitals, he said.
Emine Gungor, who survived the crash along with her child, told Anadolu that most of the passengers were asleep at the time of the crash and were woken by the sound of an explosion.
One of the passengers broke a window allowing some of the passengers to get out, she said.
"Those who managed to get out survived," Anadolu quoted Gungor as saying.
The bus, with 35 people on board, was travelling from the city of Tekirdag, near Istanbul, to the central Turkish city of Tokat.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018