At least 30 people were injured Saturday in a pileup inside the Mount Bolu Tunnel on the Ankara-Istanbul Motorway, grinding traffic from the Turkish capital to the country's commercial hub to a halt.
The accident involved 18 vehicles including trucks, semi-trailers and intercity coach buses, in addition to many cars. First responders, firefighters, police gendarmerie officers and units from local directorates of the Directorate General of Highways (KGM) and Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) flocked to the scene to help those who were wounded in the pileup.
Security camera footage from inside the tunnel shows a car sliding and stopping in the middle of the road after hitting the tunnel wall. After a couple of vehicles barely manage to pass around the car, its driver and another passenger rush to the emergency exits, before a truck hits the car and then other vehicles follow.
Bolu Governor Ahmet Ümit stated that there were around 30 people injured in the crash, including one person in critical condition. Health Minister Fahrettin Koca later said that 17 people were admitted to hospitals after the crash, including three who are heavily injured.
The motorway was expected to be open for traffic roughly two hours after the crash, according to the governor. Traffic was diverted to the D-100 highway through the Mount Bolu Pass, itself eponymous with snowfall, accidents and sharp bends.
Snowfall and cold weather was projected for almost throughout Turkey over the weekend, with authorities warning citizens in northwestern parts of the country to avoid traffic unless necessary.
Reiterating the advice, Governor Ümit said that snowfall was ongoing in Bolu and highway crews were working hard to keep roads open, along with special crews to attend to accidents near tunnels.
