9 killed as truck and minibus collide in eastern Türkiye
9 people died and 5 were injured when a truck and a minibus collided on a rain-slicked road in Van province, officials said.
A truck ploughed into a passenger minibus on a highway in Van province, eastern Türkiye, late on Saturday, killing 9 people and injuring 5, the regional governor said.
Van Governor Ozan Balcı said the crash happened near the village of Çalımlı in the Özalp district at around 7:05pm local time, on the Özalp-Saray road, which had turned slippery from rain. The minibus was carrying Iranian number plates.
Five of those who died were women and four were men, Balcı said, while officials worked to confirm the victims' identities. Among the injured, three were women and two were men; all were taken to hospital for treatment.
Rescue teams rushed to the site, including gendarmerie officers, police, paramedics, firefighters and staff from Turkey's disaster agency AFAD and its national medical rescue unit. Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said he was tracking the response alongside the relevant agencies.
A prosecutor examined the scene to help establish how the vehicles collided. The highway, shut for several hours after the crash, reopened once maintenance crews had cleared the wreckage.
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What we know
- Official · Governor Ozan Balcı 9 people died and 5 were injured when a truck and an Iranian-registered minibus collided in Van's Özalp district, Governor Ozan Balcı said.
- 1 outlet · Habertürk, Daily Sabah 5 of the dead were women and 4 were men; among the injured, 3 were women and 2 were men.
- 1 outlet · Habertürk, Daily Sabah The crash happened on a rain-slicked stretch of the Özalp-Saray road around 7:05pm local time on Saturday.
- 1 outlet · Habertürk, Daily Sabah Emergency services, including AFAD and gendarmerie, responded; the highway was closed for several hours before reopening.
How each fact is established: Verified checked by an ECTV editorOfficial stated by an official body2+ outlets reported independently by two or more news organisations1 outlet reported by a single news organisation so farUnconfirmed claimed or reportedHow we label facts
Figure history
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Why it matters for Europe
The crash happened on the Özalp-Saray highway, a mountain route linking Van to the Iran border area that carries minibus traffic between the two countries, and wet-weather conditions were cited as a factor by the provincial governor.
Sources
Reported by 4 reports from 4 independent outlets in 1 countries.
Source balance
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Intelligence file
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Confidence and impact scores, the full situation report and the event timeline.
Questions and answers
- Where did the crash happen?
- On the Özalp-Saray highway near the village of Çalımlı in Van province, eastern Türkiye.
- How many people were killed and injured?
- Nine people died — five women and four men — and five others were injured, Governor Ozan Balcı said.
- What caused the crash?
- A truck collided with an Iranian-registered passenger minibus on a road made slippery by rain, the governor said.
This article was written with AI assistance from 4 verified reports and checked under the ECTV editorial policy. Spotted an error? Request a correction.