At least 12 illegal migrants killed in Turkey bus crash

A minibus carrying undocumented Afghan, Pakistani and Bangladeshi migrants has crashed in Turkey’s Van, killing at least 12 people and injuring 26 others, Reuters reports.

The collision took place yesterday morning in Van’s Muradiye district near the Turkish border with Iran, where the vehicle caught fire after tumbling into a ditch.

Local TV broadcast NTV showed survivors being treated by the roadside as emergency workers sifted through the burnt-out wreckage.

The minibus, which became unusable, was removed by a tow truck after the investigation teams examined it.

The owner of the bus has been arrested.

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Economic migrants, mostly from Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, regularly cross the Iranian border into Van on foot before being ferried west to cities such as Istanbul and Ankara.

Last December, seven people died and 64 were rescued when a boat carrying migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan sank on Van Lake.

Lake Van is near Turkey’s border with Iran, from where migrants from Iran, Afghanistan, and other countries regularly cross into Turkey heading west towards Europe.