31.05.2026 07:20
In a traffic accident in Sarayköy district of Denizli, a passenger bus caught fire after crashing into barriers, resulting in 8 deaths, including the driver and a 9-month-old baby, and 33 injuries.
In the Sarayköy district of Denizli, a passenger bus crashed into barriers and caught fire, resulting in the deaths of 8 people, including a baby, and injuring 33 others.
PASSENGER BUS HITS BARRIERS AND BURSTS INTO FLAMES
The accident occurred around 01:40 a.m. near the Sarayköy district on the Denizli-Aydın Highway. According to information obtained, the passenger bus with license plate 45 BAH 834, operated by Pamukkale Tourism and driven by Mustafa Fevzi Mertun (50), was on the İzmir-Antalya express service when it lost control and crashed into barriers near the Tırkaz neighborhood on the Denizli-Aydın Highway. The bus, which began to burn upon impact, quickly turned into a ball of fire. Following reports from other drivers, health, police, fire, and gendarmerie teams were dispatched to the scene.
8 PEOPLE DIED AT THE SCENE
First aid was administered to the injured passengers who managed to get out of the burning bus at the scene. After the fire was extinguished by firefighting teams, initial investigations revealed that a total of 8 passengers, including bus driver Mustafa Fevzi Mertun, a foreign national, and a 9-month-old baby, lost their lives, while 33 others were injured.
LIFELESS BODIES EXTRACTED FROM THE BUS REDUCED TO A PILE OF SCRAP METAL
The injured were taken to hospitals in Denizli and Sarayköy by ambulances dispatched to the area. The lifeless bodies of the 8 people who died in the accident were removed from the bus, which had turned into a pile of scrap metal, following the work of crime scene investigation teams and were taken to the Denizli Forensic Medicine Institute Group Directorate morgue.
SOME PASSENGERS DIED DUE TO CRUSHING IN THE CHAOS
It was learned that the bus, reported to be on the İzmir-Antalya service, contained 38 passengers, including a baby, and 3 crew members. It was determined that after the accident and the onset of the fire, some passengers lost their lives due to crushing in the doorways during the chaos that ensued on the bus. Gendarmerie teams searched the grassy and shrubby areas along the highway in case there were additional fatalities or injuries. It was noted that the investigation into the accident continues.