Bus crashes in Turkey, 30 people feared dead
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-09 19:39

A passenger bus carrying about 40 people drove off a road and plunged into a river on Thursday, killing at least 13 passengers and injuring 11 others. About 17 other passengers were trapped inside the bus and were feared drowned, a local official said.

The bus was submerged in the Kelkit river's waters and divers were dispatched to the scene, local official Ferhat Kurtoglu said.

The crash occurred in the central Turkish province of Tokat, 350 kilometers (200 miles) east of Ankara, shortly after midnight, the Anatolia news agency reported.

One of the passengers managed to free himself and walked to a nearby village for help.

Ten other passengers had climbed on top of the roof of the bus to wait for help and rescuers pulled them to safety with ropes, Anatolia said.

Rescue teams recovered the bodies of 13 of the passengers including two that were discovered near a bridge some 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from the scene of the crash, the agency reported.

Authorities shut down the floodgates of a nearby dam to lower water levels at the river, helping salvage efforts, it said.

The dead included at least two women and a child, Anatolia said.

The bus was traveling from Istanbul to the eastern city of Van, near the Iranian border.