Six wedding guests killed and 43 injured in cliff edge crash with …
A horror bus crash[1] has killed six people on their way to a wedding[2], with 43 other travelling guests injured.
The shocking accident happened at around 5am in the Honaz district of Denizli, Turkey after a huge truck carrying sand lost control and veered into oncoming traffic.
It slammed straight into the bus carrying the group heading to a wedding, killing five instantly, while another died shortly after.
One of the victims has been named by Turkish media as police[4] officer Birol Kucuk.
The rest on board were taken to hospital, with the conditions of the 43 others unknown.
Emergency services attended the horror scene
Footage from the scene shows the bus dangling off the side of the road, which is on a cliff edge, with the belongings of the passengers strewn across the road.
Fire, ambulance and police crews were also seen on-site, but it is thought that some of the victims were in such bad condition that experts will have to be brought in to identify the bodies using fingerprint analysis.
The sand truck ended up in a ditch on the roadside, with the driver named as Bekir Atman.
A criminal investigation has already been opened by Denizli's Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, although it has been reported by Turkish news site Hurriyet that the accident happened when the steering wheel of the truck became locked.
The truck's steering wheel 'locked', according to local media
A spokesman for the CPPO said: “While the passenger bus with plate number 48 E 4505 was driving on the Denizli to Ankara highway, in the Ankara direction, at the Prison junction, the truck with plate number 34 DZP 704, coming from the opposite lane, broke the medians and passed the passengers.
“A traffic accident occurred as a result of the crash of the bus.
“According to the initial findings, 42 of the 48 people on the bus were injured and 6 people died.
“An investigation into the incident was immediately started and 2 public prosecutors were assigned.”
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