12 dead, 50 injured in Turkey lorry smash

Twelve people were killed and at least 50 others injured today when a lorry collided with a bus in a central Turkey, an official said.

The head-on collision happened on a busy main road in Konya province, some 180 miles south of the capital Ankara, provincial governor Ahmet Kayhan said.

The injured were taken to an area hospital and several were in a serious condition.

Witness Ekrem Bozkurt said the lorry was driving on the wrong side of the road.

The bus was travelling from the southeastern city of Diyarbakir to the Aegean port city of Izmir, the company said.

Turkey, with two-lane highways and little police surveillance, has one of the worst traffic records in Europe.