Six dead in bus crash in NW Turkey

CANAKKALE, Turkey

The death toll from Friday’s bus accident in northwestern Turkey has risen to six, as authorities found bodies of two children under the debris.

Early on Friday, gendarmerie sources said that 4 people were killed and about 30 others injured in the morning when a coach collided with a car in northwestern Turkey.

The accident happened on the Ezine–Bayramic road in Canakkale province, with the coach falling off Harharik Bridge following the crash, the sources said.

Two people travelling in the car and two bus passengers died immediately, with 30 others suffering injuries. Authorities removed the wrecked bus with the help of a crane and found bodies of two children, bringing the death toll to six.

The sources said that Syrian, Afghan and Myanmar refugees were travelling in the bus. Authorities think they were en route to Greece's Lesbos Island and would attempt to illegally cross the Aegean Sea.

Canakkale Governor’s Office has yet to make a statement on the deadly accident.

Those injured were rushed to the Bayramic and Ezine state hospitals as the identification of victims continues.

This is the second deadly bus crash in Turkey this week, after eight people were killed and 26 others injured Monday when a passenger bus overturned due to heavy snow in the central Anatolian province of Kirsehir.