Seven people were killed and nine others were injured when a truck collided with a minibus in the central Turkish province of Sivas early Thursday.

The head-on collision took place in a rural part of the road connecting Sivas to the eastern province of Malatya. The truck driver was injured in the accident while all other casualties were inside the minibus. The minibus was carrying people, mostly relatives, who were returning to their hometown in Malatya after attending a wedding party in the northwestern province of Bursa.

Sivas Governor Yılmaz Şimşek told reporters at the scene that some among the victims had "serious injuries,” including two children.

In August, 34 people were killed in two accidents in the provinces of Gaziantep and Mardin in southern and southeastern Türkiye, respectively, when trucks and a bus collided into vehicles earlier involved in minor accidents.

In Türkiye, traffic accidents claim the lives of hundreds every year. Data from the traffic department of the Turkish police show traffic accidents killed 920 people and injured another 127,619 within the first six months of 2022. The main cause of the accidents was driver error. A total of 88,000 accidents were reported across the country in the same period, involving nearly 70,000 cars and more than 25,000 motorcycles. The majority of accidents were in residential areas while the rest occurred in rural parts of the country with sparse populations or along highways. Driver error topped the list of causes of accidents, while some 10,316 accidents were the result of pedestrian errors.