High speed train collision in Turkey kills 4, injures 43 people

A Turkish high speed train collided with another locomotive and crashed into an overpass at a train station in Ankara on Thursday, killing four persons while 43 others were injured.

Video footage showed emergency workers at the scene, working to rescue people from carriages trapped beneath the mangled metal wreckage of an overpass at the Marsandiz train station, to the west of Ankara.

The accident occurred as the train was travelling between Ankara and the central Turkish province of Konya, the broadcaster said. Anadolu agency said the train was en route to Konya in central Turkey.

The Marsandiz station, where the accident occurred is around 8 km (5 miles) from the main Ankara train station. Governor Vasip Sahin told reporters the crash was caused by the high speed train hitting a locomotive which carries out track inspections.

It was not clear at what speed the trains were travelling when the crash occurred, but it occurred at a station where the Ankara-Konya train does not stop. An official from the Ankara governor’s office initially said the high speed train had collided with a suburban train.

Rescue work is still ongoing, Anadolu agency said. Some of the injured were taken to hospital. Prosecutors have launched an investigation into the crash.