A tragic incident has been recorded in western Turkey, where a passenger bus crashed into protective barriers and then burst into flames, killing eight people and injuring 33 others.
The accident occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning, at around 01:40, on the Denizli-Aydın highway, near the Saraykoy area of Denizli province. According to Turkish media, the Pamukkale Tourism bus, which was operating the Izmir-Antalya express line, lost control as it approached the Tırkaz neighborhood and crashed into the side barriers of the road.
The collision proved fatal, as the vehicle was immediately engulfed in flames that spread rapidly. At the time of the accident, there were 38 passengers and three crew members on the bus.
The victims include the 50-year-old driver Mustafa Fevzi Mertun, a foreign national, a 9-month-old baby and her father. Turkish authorities reported that some of the passengers died after being trapped near the doors during the panic and chaos that ensued after the flames erupted.
Immediately after the signal from the drivers of vehicles passing in the area, emergency teams, police, firefighters and gendarmerie arrived at the scene. Passengers who managed to get off the bus received first aid at the scene, while the injured were transported by ambulance to Denizli and Sarayköy hospitals.
After extinguishing the fire, forensic teams conducted an examination at the scene and removed the bodies from the wreckage of the bus, which had been reduced to a pile of metal. The bodies of the victims were then sent to the Denizli Forensic Medicine Institute for relevant procedures.
The incident occurred at the end of the Eid al-Adha holiday, a period during which Turkish roads are heavily congested due to family trips and holidays. Authorities have launched an investigation to determine the full cause of the accident, while gendarmerie teams have also checked the areas around the highway to ensure there are no other victims or injuries.