Ankara train crash leaves nine dead, 47 injured
Ankara, Dec 13: Nine people were killed and nearly 50 injured after a high-speed train crashed into a locomotive in the Turkish capital on Thursday, officials said.
Transport Minister Cahit Turhan told reporters in televised remarks that three of those killed were operators of the train.
One of the victims died in hospital, he added.
Turhan added that 47 people were injured and were in hospital for treatment.
The fast train had been on its way from Ankara's main station to the central province of Konya and according to Hurriyet daily, there were 206 passengers on board.
Earlier, the Ankara governor's office said three out of a total of 46 people had been seriously injured.
The death toll was rising fast. Ankara governor Vasip Sahin said earlier on Thursday morning that four people had been killed.
"This morning there was an accident after the 6.30 high-speed train to Konya hit a locomotive tasked with checking rails on the same route," Sahin told reporters in televised remarks.
Turhan said the accident took place six minutes after the train left Ankara as it entered the Marsandiz station.
The governor said search and rescue efforts continued as "technical investigations" were underway to find out exactly what caused the crash in Yenimahalle district.
He said information about the cause of the crash would be shared with the public when it is known.
Images published by Turkish media showed some wagons had derailed and debris from the train scattered on the rail track, which was covered in snow.
The windows of one wagon were completely broken while another wagon had been smashed after hitting the footbridge, which also collapsed, an AFP correspondent at the scene said.
The Ankara public prosecutor launched an investigation into the crash, state news agency Anadolu reported.
The Ankara to Konya high-speed route was launched in 2011 and was followed in 2014 with a high-speed link between Ankara and Istanbul.
The accident comes after another rail disaster in July this year when 24 people were killed and hundreds more injured after a train derailed in Tekirdag province, northwest Turkey, due to ground erosion following heavy rains.
Turkey's rail network has been hit by several fatal accidents in recent years.
In March 2014, a commuter train smashed into a minibus on a railway track in the southern Turkish province of Mersin, which left 10 dead.
In January 2008, nine people were killed when a train derailed in the Kutahya region south of Istanbul because of faulty tracks.
Turkey's worst rail disaster in recent history was in July 2004 when 41 people were killed and 80 injured after a high-speed train derailed in the northwestern province of Sakarya.
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Russia always ready to supply crude oil to India: Envoy
New Delhi (PTI): Russia has always been open to supplying crude oil to India, Russian Ambassador Denis Alipov said on Thursday, amid increasing concerns over spiralling prices of petroleum products in view of the West Asia crisis.
Global oil and gas prices have surged after Iran has virtually blocked the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping lane between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, that handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas).
India imports 88 per cent of its crude oil needs and roughly half of its natural gas requirement. These mostly come via the Strait of Hormuz.
Any prolonged instability in West Asia is set to be detrimental to India's national interests as the region remains a major source of New Delhi's energy security.
"We have been open to supplying crude oil to India," Alipov told reporters while responding to a question on Russian crude oil supplies to India in view of the West Asia crisis.
The US launched military strikes on Iran on February 28, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Following the military offensive, Iran has carried out a wave of attacks mainly targeting Israel and American military bases in several Gulf countries including the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
In the last three days, the conflict has widened significantly with attacks and counter-attacks by both the sides.
India's procurement of crude oil from Russia has seen sharp fall in the last few weeks.
US President Donald Trump, while announcing a trade deal with New Delhi last month, claimed India has agree to not procure crude oil from Russia.
In an executive order, Trump had rolled back an additional 25 per cent tariffs on India that he imposed in August last for India's procurement of crude oil from Russia.
In the order, the US said it would monitor whether India resumed Russian oil purchases directly or indirectly and that would determine whether a 25 per cent tariff would again be re-impose.
India has been maintaining that it will procure oil from multiple sources and diversify them to ensure stability in the supply chain with national interests remaining the "guiding factor" for the procurement.
