59 killed, 330 injured in traffic accidents across Turkey since start of Eid al-Fitr

ISTANBUL

Some 59 people have been killed and 330 have been injured in a total of 78 traffic accidents across Turkey since June 24, the start of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, Doğan News Agency has reported.

Traffic was snarled as people took to the roads to visit their relatives in provinces across the country during the Eid al-Fitr holiday after Ramadan. 

On the third day of the holiday alone, June 26, there were 18 accidents, with 11 deaths and 71 injuries. 

In eight different accidents on June 26, two were killed and thirty eight injured after 4 p.m. local time in Istanbul, the northern province of Tokat, the Black Sea province of Zonguldak, the western province of Bursa, the Central Anatolian province of Konya, the western province of Kocaeli, the Aegean province of Aydın, and the southeastern province of Kilis.

In the Central Anatolian province of Kırıkkale, three were killed and eight were injured as two cars crashed into each other head on. 

In the Aegean province of İzmir’s Beydağ district, a 49-year-old motorcyclist lost control and lost his life on the road.  

In another incident on June 26, in the southeastern province of Gaziantep’s İslahiye district, a youngster who was seen travelling in the open trunk of a car, which was already filled with about 10 people inside. 

June 27 is the fourth and final day of the Eid al-Fitr holiday, and the authorities have warned drivers to be particularly careful on the roads as many people return home on this day.