A intercity passenger bus overturned in southern Turkey’s Antalya province on Sunday, leaving nine people dead and at least 21 others injured, officials said. The crash occurred after the bus rolled off a road and came to rest on a highway slip road in the Dosemealti area, according to images carried by the state broadcaster TRT.
Provincial Gov. Hulusi Sahin said 21 people were injured in the crash and that seven of them suffered critical wounds, including severed limbs, and he said the driver was among those killed. TRT images showed the vehicle lying on its side on an embankment near a roadway in Dosemealti, a district to the northwest of Antalya city center.
Sahin linked the crash to the conditions in the region, saying “the ground was wet and there was also fog in the area.” He added, “It’s not a place to speed, but it seems the bus was speeding,” in remarks carried by TRT. Antalya, a popular tourist destination on the Mediterranean, has been hit by heavy rain in recent days, adding to hazardous driving conditions.
The DHA news agency reported that some passengers were thrown from the bus. The bus had traveled overnight from Tekirdag in Turkey’s northwest, according to the report.
Later, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya posted about the crash on social media, lamenting a “traffic culture” and pointing to nationwide road fatalities. He said 6,351 people died on Turkey’s roads in 2024 and outlined existing proposals to tighten traffic laws.
The bus crash was reported on the same day as another major road incident in the wider region: seven people died in a head-on car collision in Burdur, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of Dosemealti.