10 dead, 73 wounded as Turkish train derails after heavy rain

People receive help from medical personnel after a train came off the rails due to heavy rain and a landslide on to the tracks near Corlu in Tekirdag province, Turkey. Picture: Dogan News Agency via Reuters

People receive help from medical personnel after a train came off the rails due to heavy rain and a landslide on to the tracks near Corlu in Tekirdag province, Turkey. Picture: Dogan News Agency via Reuters

Published Jul 8, 2018

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Istanbul - Ten people were killed and 73 wounded when a train came off the rails in northwest Turkey on Sunday after heavy rain and a landslide, Turkish television channels quoted a health ministry official as saying.

The train was carrying 362 passengers and was headed to Istanbul when five carriages came off the tracks, the transport ministry said in a statement.

Television images showed several wagons laying on their side and emergency personnel walking to reach the crash site.

One survivor, walking along the rail track away from the accident site, told CNN Turk television that he had seen many more than 10 bodies.

A statement from the prime minister's office said a suburban train suffered an accident after a landslide. "Unfortunately we have fatalities and casualties," it said.

The local governor in Tekirdag, about 120 km (75 miles) west of Istanbul, blamed heavy rain for the derailment.

An injured woman is seen after a train came off the rails due to heavy rain and a landslide on to the tracks near Corlu in Tekirdag province, Turkey. Picture: Dogan News Agency via Reuters

"Our helicopter ambulances have reached the site. Many of those injured have been taken off the site," Mehmet Ceylan said.

A derailed train is seen near Corlu in Tekirdag province, Turkey. Picture: Dogan News Agency via Reuters

President Tayyip Erdogan's office said he had received information from the ministers of transport and interior about the incident, and sent condolences for those killed. 

Reuters

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