15 killed as van carrying migrants crashes in eastern Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey — A van carrying migrants rolled into a roadside ditch in eastern Turkey on Thursday, killing 15 people, a Turkish official said.

More than 20 other people were also injured in the accident near the town of Ozalp, in Van province, close to Turkey’s border with Iran, the province’s governor, Mehmet Emin Binmez, told Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency. There was no immediate information on the injured passengers’ conditions.

He said the migrants are believed to be from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.

Over the past few years, migrants have crossed in large numbers into Turkey, from where they try and reach European-Union member Greece by land or sea. Several have died making dangerous sea crossings from the Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands.

Last month, a van carrying dozens of migrants ignored orders to stop and crashed into a wall in a town in northwest Turkey, near Turkey’s border with Greece. Ten migrants were killed in that accident.

Separately, police have detained 285 migrants, mostly from Bangladesh and Afghanistan, in security checks in Van province, Anadolu reported Thursday. The migrants included 48 children and 51 women, the report said. /kga