At least 32 people killed in Turkey in separate crashes at accident sites

ISTANBUL:

At least 32 people were killed in southeast Turkey on Saturday when vehicles crashed into first respondents who were attending earlier accidents, authorities said.

Sixteen people including emergency workers and journalists died when a bus crashed into an earlier accident site, regional governor Davut Gul from southeastern province of Gaziantep said. Another 20 people were wounded and received treatment.

"At around 10:45 this morning, a passenger bus crashed here," Gul said, speaking from the scene of the accident on the road east of Gaziantep.

Rescue and emergency responders work at the scene after a bus crash on the highway between Gaziantep and Nizip, Turkey August 20, 2022. Ihlas News Agency via REUTERS

"While the fire brigade, medical teams and other colleagues were responding to the accident, another bus crashed 200 metres behind. The second bus slid to this site and hit the first responders and the wounded people on the ground."

Separately, a truck hit a site some 250 km (155 miles) east in Derik district of Mardin where first respondents were attending to another accident, according to footage.

Sixteen people died and 29 others were injured as a result of the incident in Mardin, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said, adding that eight of the wounded were in critical condition.