Train crash death toll rises to eight

Turkish rescue workers pulled the bodies of two more passengers from a train wreck today, raising to eight the death toll in the nation’s third deadly rail accident in as many weeks.

A passenger train in north-west Turkey disregarded a stop signal and rammed into an oncoming train, in the crash that also injured 88 people, officials said.

By nightfall, rescue operations ended and emergency crews used flashlights to search inside the wreckage for bodies.

Earlier, rescue workers in blue and orange jumpsuits climbed through the wreckage near the village of Tavsancil in Kocaeli province, 50 miles east of Istanbul, to recover trapped and smashed bodies.

The accident happened after a train travelling from Ankara to Istanbul ignored a signal and failed to stop at a junction.

Officials from rail unions suggested that Turkey’s creaking signalling systems, and the fact that the trains were not properly equipped with automatic speed reducing mechanisms were to blame.

The other train was travelling from Istanbul to Adapazari in northwestern Turkey.

The accident comes three weeks after a newly inaugurated high-speed train from Istanbul to Ankara derailed, killing 37 people – one of the worst train accidents in Turkey.