Ankara - Nine people were killed and
nearly 50 injured in Turkey when a high speed train collided
with a locomotive and crashed into a station platform and
overpass in an Ankara suburb early on Thursday, officials said.
Rescuers worked to free people trapped under the mangled
wreckage at Marsandiz train station, 8km from central
Ankara. It was not clear at which speed the train and locomotive
were travelling when the collision occurred. There was light
snow on the tracks.
Firefighters and medics try to rescue victims after a high-speed train crashed into a locomotive in Ankara. Picture: Adem Altan/AFP
The train had been heading from Ankara to the central
Turkish province of Konya and was not due to stop at Marsandiz.
Ankara Governor Vasip Sahin said the locomotive, which lay
battered 20 metres further ahead, carried out track
inspections.
Three train drivers were among the nine killed in the crash,
Transport Minister Cahit Turhan told reporters on the scene.
There were 206 passengers on the high speed train, according
to state-owned Anadolu news agency, which also reported that the
Ankara state prosecutor's office had launched an investigation.
Turkey has been developing a network of high-speed rail
links during Tayyip Erdogan's 16-year-old rule as it looks to
ease the burden on increasingly congested highways.