Turkey: Train derailment kills at least 10, injures 73

ISTANBUL (AP) — At least 10 people were killed and more than 70 injured Sunday when a passenger train derailed in northwestern Turkey, Turkish authorities said.

Five of the train's six cars derailed in a village in Tekirdag province after "the ground between the culvert and the rail collapsed" due to heavy rains, the Ministry of Transport said.

Health Ministry Undersecretary Eyup Gumus put the number of fatalities at 10 and the number of people injured at 73 based on initial reports from the scene, according to Turkey's official Anadolu news agency.

The train was heading to Istanbul from Edirne, on the border with Greece, with 362 passengers and six crew members on board, the transportation ministry said.

The Turkish prime ministry issued a temporary media ban Sunday night on reporting the aftermath of the accident, citing national security and public order.

Before then, an unnamed survivor told the private DHA news agency she had been in one of the cars that went off the tracks.

"There were deaths immediately, people whose legs were crushed. It was a horrible accident," she said.

A photograph of the site showed collapsed ground under the rails. Video footage captured overturned cars and several people being carried away on stretchers.

Tekirdag governor Mehmet Ceyhan said the area where the derailment happened was muddy and difficult to reach. Military and ambulance helicopters arrived at the accident scene.