Illegal Migration: 2 Bangladeshis among 12 dead in Turkey bus crash

A bus carrying Afghan, Pakistani and Bangladeshi migrants crashed in eastern Turkey early yesterday, killing at least 12 people and injuring 26 others, local authorities said.

The crash occurred in Van province's Muradiye district near the Turkish border with Iran, where the vehicle caught fire after tumbling into a ditch, two local sources with information on the matter told Reuters.

The identities of those killed in the accident were not immediately clear, both sources said.

However, two have been identified as Bangladeshis, an official at Bangladesh mission in Ankara told The Daily Star via WhatsApp text.

The sources said the owner of the bus was detained.

Among the dead were 11 migrants and a person who helped organise their illegal transport, the authorities were quoted as saying.

The injured were taken to hospital, they added.

Medical teams, firefighters, security forces as well as emergency personnel from Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) were dispatched to the scene.

In July 2020, a boat carrying up to 60 migrants sank in Lake Van.

Turkey has been a key transit point for asylum-seekers aiming to cross into Europe to start new lives, especially those fleeing war and persecution. Migrants – mostly from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan – regularly cross the Iranian border into Turkey on foot before being ferried west to cities such as Istanbul and Ankara.

Journeys often turn lethal, be it a short journey to Greece by sea aboard unsafe boats or in overcrowded minibuses and trucks.

Turkish security forces rescued or held some 352 irregular migrants over a 24-hour period on Monday and Tuesday last week across a number of provinces in Turkey.