At least 99 people were injured when city metro buses collided in Istanbul’s Avjallar district on Friday night, but no one was killed, metro spokesman Valiyat Ali Erlikaya said. The accident happened at dusk during the peak time for public transport in Istanbul.
The Metrobus system has 45 stations that follow the ring road of the metropolis through the expatriate Avcalar district, Zinjirlikü, and the Bosphorus Bridge to Sutluçeshme, using dedicated bus lanes for almost the entire length of the route. Two metro buses collided at one of the stops on the line near Avjilar. Two other cars following them crashed into cars that had already collided, BTA reported.
The cause of the accident is not reported. Ambulances, fire, and police teams were immediately dispatched to the scene.
Some victims were treated on the spot, others were taken to nearby hospitals. No casualties were reported.
Traffic on the central road from the city to “Avjalar” was blocked for several hours. After the accident, some of the passengers went over the fence onto the roadway of the D100 (E5) road and put their lives at risk, which caused the police to close the road for a while.