Emergency responders attending bus crash in Turkey are killed when SECOND bus ploughs into them
Sixteen people have been killed in Turkey after a bus collided into emergency services and bystanders attending the scene of an earlier bus crash.
Among those killed were four paramedics, three firefighters and two journalists from a Turkish news agency.
All others who were killed were bus passengers, according to Turkish interior minister Suleyman Soylu.
Rescue workers at the scene of the bus crash on the highway between Gaziantep and Nizip in southeastern Turkey
A bus crash was followed by a second bus crash 200 metres behind it, which ‘slid’ into responders to the first incident. 16 people lost their lives and 22 were injured, reports say
Pictures from the scene show debris strewn across the highway and nearby embankment. Traffic was stopped in both directions following the collision
The crash took place on a road between Gaziantep and Nizip, in the southeastern province of Gaziantep, according to the regional governor Davut Gul.
Speaking from the scene of the accident on the road east of Gaziantep, Mr Gul said: ‘At around 10.45 this morning, a passenger bus crashed here.
‘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.’
Multiple vehicles including the two buses, an ambulance, a car and a fire engine appear to have been involved in the crash
The governor said on Twitter that a further 22 people had been injured.
He has since been to visit the scene and injured passengers in nearby hospitals.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tweeted: ‘The tragic traffic accident that occurred on the Gaziantep-Nizip Highway broke our hearts.
‘I pray God’s mercy on our citizens who lost their lives in the accident and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. Sorry for your loss.’
Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said the emergency workers and journalists had ‘lost their lives in the line of duty’.
The Ilhas News Agency said two of its drone operators were killed after after they stopped to help the victims of the first crash.
A crumpled ambulance with debris strewn around it was pictured at the scene in the aftermath of the collision
The first bus had veered off the road and gone down an embankment.
The second bus then crashed 200 metres behind it, sliding into those at the initial scene.
Pictures from the scene show an ambulance which has folded from impact, with metal strewn across the road, and the bus overturned on its side.
A fire engine also appears to have been severely damaged in a video from the scene.
A crane was at the scene in the aftermath of the crash lifting smashed up cars out of the road.
