22 dead as migrant truck crashes in western Turkey
Istanbul, Oct 14: Twenty-two people, including children, died on Sunday when a vehicle carrying migrants reportedly heading for EU member Greece plunged off the highway into a waterway in western Turkey.
The vehicle was travelling on a highway near Izmir airport when it flipped over and fell into the channel several metres below, state-run Anadolu news agency said.
The nationality of the migrants was not immediately clear, but 22 people died in the crash and another 13 others were hurt, the agency said, hiking an earlier toll of 19 dead.
Turkish television pictures showed the wreckage of the vehicle upside-down in the river channel, reduced to burned-out metal by the impact of the crash with corpses strewn alongside it.
Rescue workers later used a crane to lift it on to the road, with images showing the vehicle's back end was simply an open container into which the migrants had been crammed.
The DHA news agency said the driver, a 35-year-old Turkish national, had survived, telling police he had swerved to avoid an oncoming white vehicle.
The man had a standard 'B' license to drive a car did not have the required papers to drive a vehicle of that size, it said.
The truck had been hired for four days.
Among the dead were two babies, two children and a pregnant woman, it said.
The driver was expected to be arrested after leaving hospital, Anadolu reported, saying regional prosecutors had opened an investigation.
DHA said the vehicle was headed for the coast of the Izmir region, from where the migrants were to have tried to reach Greece's Samos island.
In the truck with them were several inflatable dinghies.
Samos is just a few kilometres north of Turkey's Dilek peninsula that juts out from the Izmir region.
Turkey is a key transit point for migrants from troubled countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa seeking a new life in Europe.
A million migrants crossed from Turkey into Greece in 2015, mostly by boats, in a crisis which forced a deal between Ankara and the EU to stem the flow of people.
Numbers have fallen since but people are still undertaking what is a highly perilous journey and the flow has ticked up this year from 2017.
According to UN figures, more than 24,500 migrants have arrived in Greece by sea so far this year, with 118 people losing their lives via this route.
Last week, eight migrants were found drowned off the Karaburun district, also in Izmir province, after their boat capsized.
Twenty-six others are still officially listed as missing after that accident, according to Anadolu.
The trips of migrants towards Greece are often organised by smugglers who demand hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars per person to sort out the logistics.
After the disaster off Karaburun, four suspected smugglers were arrested following evidence given by an Iraqi who survived, Anadolu said. They had demanded a fee of USD 1,500 from each migrant.
The Hurriyet daily said investigators were now looking into whether the same smuggling network behind the Karaburun disaster was also linked to the migrants caught up in the truck accident.
Eleven people also died on in northern Greece on Saturday when a car thought to be carrying migrants crashed head-on with a truck and burst into flames. (AFP) SMJ
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Will not tolerate bias of Congress anymore: Muslim organisations of Karnataka slam party
Bengaluru: Representatives of leading Muslim organisations, associations and unions from across Karnataka have issued a strong and sharply worded joint statement, declaring that the Muslim community “will no longer tolerate” what they described as the biased attitude of the Congress party towards the community and its leaders.
The statement was issued by a wide group of leaders and organisations, including Maulana Syed Tanveer Hashmi, President, Muslim Muttahida Mahaz, Vijayapura; Abdul Khadeer Saheb, President, Shaheen Group of Educational Institutions, Bidar; Maulana Shabbir Ahmed Nadvi, President, Welfare of Humanity Foundation, Bengaluru; K. S. Mohammed Masood, President, The Muslim Central Committee, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi District and former President of the State Minorities Commission; Haji Mohammed Hanif, General Secretary, The Muslim Central Committee, Dakshina Kannada and Udupi District; Muhammad Maula, President, Udupi District Muslim Okkuta; Yaseen Malpe, Immediate Past President, Udupi District Muslim Okkuta; Maulana Abdul Raqeeb MJ Nadvi, General Secretary, Majlis E Islah Wa Tanzeem, Bhatkal; Ashraf Ali Basheer, Convenor, Muslim Voice of Karnataka, Hubballi; Dr Abdul Kareem, former President, Karnataka State Minorities Commission, Hubballi; K. Ashraf, President, Dakshina Kannada District Muslim Okkuta; Muhammad Hanif, Secretary, Dakshina Kannada District Muslim Okkuta; Maulana Abdul Azeez Darimi, Leader, Sunni Yuvajana Sangha Karnataka; Haji Abubakar Nejar, District President, Sunni Samyukta Jamaath, Udupi District; Mohammad Rafiq, District President, Karnataka Muslim Jamaath, Udupi District; Rafiuddin Kudroli, President, Uniwef Mangaluru; Kasim Shuaiburrahman Qureshi, President, All India Jamiatul Qureshi, Karnataka; Afzal Mahmood, Secretary, Karnataka Muslim Political Forum, Gulbarga; Jabbar Kalaburagi, President, Karnataka Muslim Unity, Bagalkote; Nisar Ahmed, State Coordinator, Eddelu Karnataka, Mangaluru; Naqwa Yahya Malpe, President, Namma Naada Okkoota, Udupi District; Afsar, President, Karnataka Souharda Okkoota, Mandya; Advocate Abdul Jabbar Gola, Vice President, Joint Action Committee, Gulbarga; Advocate Anshad Palya, State Committee Member, All India Lawyers Association, Karnataka and Leader, Hassan District Muslim Organisations Federation; Haji Suleiman Saheb, President, Thirthahalli Taluk Joint Muslim Federation; and Mujahid Pasha of Al Jamaatul Quraish Trust, Basavakalyan.
The organisations said the united support extended by Muslims in the state was the main reason for the Congress party coming to power. However, they alleged that the party and its government are not treating Muslims with dignity, and that there is growing anguish within the community over being repeatedly insulted by denial of proper representation in political appointments and key positions in the bureaucracy.
Referring to the Davangere by-election and recent developments, the statement said the Congress party appears to have sent a clear message to Muslims: “You are merely a vote bank for us. Your job is only to vote for the Congress party. Positions, status, representation and opportunities in the party are alms that we give. If you question your rights or the injustice done to you, disciplinary action will be taken.”
The organisations said this approach is unacceptable and warned that the community will no longer remain silent. They questioned the party’s disciplinary actions against certain Muslim leaders, asking what action had been taken in similar situations in the past involving others. “Otherwise, a serious question arises as to whether the party’s disciplinary rules are applicable only to one community,” the statement said.
Calling the issue one of dignity, the organisations said it is not just about a few individuals but concerns the entire Muslim community. They criticised the Congress for taking unilateral decisions without consulting religious and social leaders and said such actions cannot be justified as mere political decisions.
The statement also accused the party of portraying Muslims as being wrong for asking for fair representation. It said it is not fair to expect the community to campaign for the party without giving them tickets that should have been given fairly, and then initiate disciplinary action on what were described as trivial grounds. The organisations termed the attitude of “you should have simply obeyed what we said” as highly condemnable.
They also expressed concern over what they described as attempts by the party leadership to pit leaders of the Muslim community against each other. At the same time, the statement criticised certain leaders within the community for choosing to pursue personal interests instead of standing firmly against what it called discriminatory policies.
Drawing a comparison, the organisations said that when leaders from some communities commit even serious mistakes or make direct statements against the party, no action is taken and they are instead rewarded. “But if leaders from a particular community deviate even slightly from the party’s diktat, they are subjected to severe punishment this is not fair, this is not acceptable,” the statement said.
Warning of political consequences, the organisations said such discriminatory behaviour will harm the Congress party in the coming days and could lead to a serious setback. They said Muslims had supported the party to ensure a secular government based on constitutional values and to prevent divisive forces from gaining power. However, treating this support as a weakness and assuming that the community has no alternative would prove “politically very costly” for the party.
The organisations strongly condemned what they termed as mistreatment of the community in the name of political calculation and demanded that such unilateral decisions be stopped. They also called for the present decision to be reconsidered.
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