High-speed train crashes in Ankara; death toll at 9

A high-speed train hit a railway engine and crashed into a pedestrian overpass at a station in the Turkish capital Ankara on Thursday, killing nine people and injuring 47 others, officials said.

The 6:30 a.m. (0330 GMT) train from Ankara to the central Turkish city of Konya collided with the engine, which was checking the tracks at the capital’s small Marsandiz station, Ankara Gov. Vasip Sahin told reporters at the scene.

The high-speed train transits that station without stopping.

Private NTV television said at least two cars derailed. Parts of the overpass collapsed onto the train.

Sahin initially said four people were killed in the crash. His office later issued a statement saying nine people were killed in the crash, including the high-speed train’s engine driver. Three of the injured passengers were in serious condition.

Television footage showed emergency services working to rescue passengers from wrangled cars and debris.

Rescue teams were looking for more survivors, Sahin said.

“Our hope is that there are no other victims,” he said.

It was not immediately clear if a signaling problem caused the accident. Sahin said a technical investigation has begun.

In July, 10 people were killed and more than 70 injured when most of a passenger train derailed in northwestern Turkey, after torrential rains caused part of the rail tracks to collapse. Last month, 15 people were injured when a passenger train collided with a freight train in Turkey’s central province of Sivas

Konya, some 260 kilometers (160 miles) southwest of Ankara, is home to the tomb of the Sufi mystic and poet Jalaladdin Rumi, attracting thousands of pilgrims and tourists.