Three charged over Turkey train crash
Three crew members of a derailed express train that killed 37 people in Turkey have been charged.
But the government is also facing mounting criticism for pushing through a high-speed rail project despite concern over the country’s ageing tracks.
The derailment on Thursday in north western Turkey was among the worst in the country’s history. Eighty-one people were injured.
The chief of the train and its two engineers were arrested late on Friday in connection with the accident, a police official said.
Local media reported that they were charged with negligence.
The express derailed near a village about halfway through its trip from Istanbul to Ankara. The accident was embarrassing for the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who personally inaugurated the showcase train last month despite safety concerns raised by experts.
Worries about railroad safety in Turkey were underscored today, when four cars in a 25-car freight train derailed in southern Adana province. No one was hurt.
Transport Minister Binali Yildirim told reporters on Friday that authorities were still investigating the cause of Thursday’s crash, but said the train was travelling 23mph over the speed limit of 50mph when it came off the rails.
A lawyer for the three crew members – crew chief Koksal Coskun and engineers Fikret Karabulut and Recep Sonmez – contested that claim.
Lawyer Ismail Gurses showed reporters railroad-issued regulations for the trip that listed the speed limit in the crash area as 80 mph, not 50 mph.
“The reason for the crash could be ageing infrastructure, the rails may have expanded or there may be a technical reason that we don’t know, but it’s definitely not because of high speed,” Gurses said.
Suleyman Karaman, the head of Turkey’s railroads, said the accident may have occurred because the engineers slammed the brakes when they noticed they were travelling around a bend too quickly.
Turkish newspapers blasted the government, accusing it of trying to deflect responsibility.
“Somebody is fooling us,” headlined Radikal. “People have died, but those responsible have not resigned,” said Milliyet.
Mehmet Soganci, the head of a trade group for engineers and architects, was among those to issue calls for Yildirim and the head of the railroad to resign.
Soganci accused officials of “putting political profit before human life” and “plugging their ears” to the warnings of experts.
The head of a transportation union said his group would ask prosecutors to press charges against Yildirim and Karaman for negligence, saying engineers were forced to travel fast even though the tracks were not up to standard.
“They’re blaming personnel, saying high speed isn’t allowed in the place of the accident,” said Yavuz Zegerek. But “it’s not possible to reach the destination in five hours without turning the existing rules inside out.”
