3 State Railway Employees in Custody Over Deadly Collision

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Three employees of the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) have been taken into custody regarding the collision of high speed train and guiding locomotive earlier in the day (December 13).

According to the official statement, nine people have been killed and 47 others have been wounded in the collision.

The incident happened at the entry of the merchandise station in Çiftlik location. The high speed train departed from Ankara terminal at 6.30 a.m. with 206 passengers on board, was heading to Konya.

As part of the investigation that is being conducted, locomotion officer S.Y., switch officer O.Y. and controller E.E.E. have been taken into custody and brought to Yenimahalle District Police Department.

CLICK- Deadly Train 'Accident' in Ankara: 3 Contradictory Statements in 2 Hours

Contradicting statements regarding the collision

After the incident, state-run Anadolu Agency reported that the high speed train crashed into a footbridge.

While people on social media were questioning how can a train crash into a footbridge, Governor of Ankara made the first statement regarding the incident: "The train crashed into a commuter train, not a footbridge."

The Governor was corrected by the Ministry of Transportation, which stated the high speed train crashed into a guiding train. According to the statement, two cars of the high speed train derailed after the collision, crashing into abutment of a footbridge. The footbridge collapsed onto the cars. (HK/VK)

* Photograph: Doğukan Keskinkılıç - Ankara/AA