ISTANBUL
Four people have been killed and more than 10 injured after a public bus caught fire in Istanbul, health officials have said.
The bus, which was en route to the European side of the city on Sunday afternoon, caught fire for an unknown reason while moving on the TEM Highway near Kavacik district on the Anatolian side, according to fire department officials.
Mutaver Ciftci, one of the passengers told Anadolu Agency journalists: "We heard a sudden explosion. I managed to get out but my aunt was trapped inside and killed."
The bus driver, referred to as Zeynel A, told police following his detention: "The bus suddenly caught fire in the back. The blazes reached the middle of the bus. That's when I hit the barriers."
One of the four people killed in the incident has been identified as Tevrat Barisik.
The police are trying to identify the other victims.
A large number of ambulances and firefighters were dispatched to the scene and the injured were taken to nearby hospitals as firefighters put out the blaze.
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