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The country's main roads remained congested while Eid al-Fitr holiday travel continues to take a heavy toll, as nearly 110 people died as of Wednesday and over 800 were injured in traffic accidents across Turkey.
The annual Muslim holiday results in heavy traffic, with many fleeing big cities, particularly İstanbul, and going back to their hometowns to spend the holiday with their families. Traffic along inter-city highways is much heavier than usual, especially on the TEM and D-100 highways.
Releasing a written statement regarding the traffic accidents that occurred during the Eid holiday, the National Police Department stated that a total of 108 persons were killed while 4,002 persons were injured in 1,824 traffic accidents that took place from July 26 to July 30 across Turkey.
The statement stated that 28 persons were killed and 1,034 were injured in 1,034 traffic accidents across the country on July 28. On July 27, the date which marks the eve of Eid-al-Fitr, 32 persons died and 1,023 persons were injured in 481 traffic accidents. On the first day of Eid-al-Fitr, July 28, 17 were killed while 898 were injured in over 400 traffic accidents. On the second day of Eid, July 29, 31 were killed and 1,047 were injured in traffic accidents across the country.
The death toll from traffic accidents during the Eid holiday exceeds the numbers provided by the National Police Department if the traffic accidents that took place during July 30 -- the third day of Eid -- are counted. Up until 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 more people were declared dead while 82 were injured in traffic accidents across the country. The death toll is expected to continue to rise as the holiday comes to a close and people return to the cities where they reside.
Many took to the roads on Thursday of last week before waiting for the start of the Eid holiday on Saturday. The death toll rises to much more if the fatal accidents that took place on July 24 and 25 are counted. On July 24, 29 people lost their lives and 85 were injured from traffic related accidents. On July 25, 10 were declared dead and 75 injured from 14 different accidents.
One of the accidents that occurred on Wednesday involved 61-year-old Recep Küçüklü, who was returning home on his motorcycle when he collided with a truck, after attending a ceremony for the holiday with participants of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP)in the district of Seydikemer in Muğla. Just an hour before Küçüklü lost his life, he had taken a picture posing with former MHP Seydikemer Mayor Cafer Arıkan.
As the holiday comes to an end, the return traffic to cities also causes concern over a possible increase in the death toll. Turkish Tradesmen's and Artisans' Confederation (TESK) President Bendevi Palandöken made an announcement, warning, “Do not plan [your] return journeys for the last day, [and] do not hit the road in hot weather.”
The return traffic has already begun in some areas like in the Bandırma district of Balıkesir, where many vacationers reportedly left at the same time in the early hours, causing long queues on the return journey to İstanbul. Ports in Bandırma offer ferry boats that carry automobiles, and they have started transport operations at 9:45 a.m. in the morning and will continue until 11:55 p.m. Normally there are are six ferries and four high-speed ferries that travel a day, but those numbers have been increased to 10 due to the holiday congestion. From the Bandırma port to İstanbul, there have been a total of 5,600 passengers traveling with a total of 200 cars since the start of Eid holiday.
SHOTLIST
TURKEY, YOZGAT, 27 JULY 2014
VAR of the road
VAR of the scene
blood and dead bodies
Crashed truck and wrecked car
TURKEY, ISTANBUL, 27 JULY 2014
VAR of the accident scene
Injured people
VAR of the crashed cars
Ambulance
TURKEY, ÇORUM, 27 JULY 2014
VAR of the accident scene
Injured people
DURATION: 03:55
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