At least 11 people have been killed and 27 injured after a tour bus and a tow truck collided in western Turkey. The crash happened near toll booths at Akhisar on the Gebze-Orhangazi-Izmir highway in Manisa province on Sunday morning, just after 11am local time. Images from the scene showed the overturned bus, which sustained heavy structural damage to its rear section, and the tow truck, said to be carrying wooden planks, also flipped over.

Emergency response and injuries

According to the Manisa governor’s office, authorities received a report of the collision shortly after the crash, and emergency teams were dispatched to the site. The wounded were taken to local hospitals. The coach was travelling on the Bursa-Izmir route. Provincial governor Vahdettin Ozkan visited the crash site, and officials said work at the scene was continuing under the coordination of the public prosecutor’s office. The exact cause of the collision is not yet known.

Both drivers detained

Turkish media reported that the drivers of the coach and the truck were detained by authorities as part of the ongoing investigation, with the bus driver held after being discharged from hospital. Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci, writing on social media platform X, described the victims as citizens, though authorities had not confirmed whether any foreign nationals were among the casualties. Ozkan said the tragedy showed, in a painful way, how vital it was to strictly adhere to traffic rules.

Local reports said the coach was carrying 34 passengers and three crew members at the time of the crash. Of the 27 injured, 16 were reported to have serious but not life-threatening injuries, nine sustained minor injuries, and one person was in critical condition. The injured were swiftly transported to local hospitals, and those not detained remained under medical observation.

Authorities have not yet said whether any foreign nationals were travelling on the coach.