Tragic photos from the scene show the bus overturned on its side: its metal roof above the twelve seats is deformed, and the engine hood is crumpled. A thirteen-year-old girl was also injured in the accident – she remained trapped under the bus, and some passengers were thrown out of the windows, according to The Sun.
Emergency workers and Turkish police were rushed to the scene of the horrific accident near the Manavgat district – a tourist destination with ancient coastal towns and waterfalls. The vehicle drove off the winding road at 3 PM local time.
It is believed that the open-top bus veered off the road while traveling at approximately 40 miles per hour (about 64 km/h) – this happened when, during a “water battle”, it tried to overtake another bus from the same company driving ahead and crashed into tree branches.
There was a lot of blood and broken bones.
During the incident, a witness from Great Britain was on a safari tour in an adjacent bus. He told The Sun: “It was a truly shocking experience. There was a lot of blood and broken bones. The bus overturned about three times and finally landed on its side. The bus kept rolling off the road – about 70 meters. One child was hanging, entangled in a seatbelt that was wrapped around his neck. We had to free him by climbing onto the bus roof.
Children were crying; even those who were not on the crashed bus were trembling because of how suddenly everything happened. People from other buses immediately rushed to help them. When we managed to get people out of the bus, their faces were bloody, and they were screaming loudly.”
A father of four was on an all-inclusive holiday with his family in Alanya when they witnessed this horrific accident.
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He added: “It took about 30 minutes for the convoy of ambulances to arrive because we were in a remote area. While waiting, we saw people in shock – they were just lying on the roadside, writhing in pain and crying. One man was sitting on the roadside screaming in pain because his ankle joint was dislocated and turned the wrong way. The children’s parents were also crying. All of them escaped death. This ruined our holiday. We don’t feel safe on these roads. On the replacement bus back to the hotel, we were all trembling with fear.”
At the time of the accident, there were six adults and six children on the bus; most of them were British tourists. They were on a safari tour organized by Tony Montana Excursions, a leisure services company based in Alanya. The families participated in an open-top bus safari tour – they were traveling in a convoy of seven vehicles from Türkler (Alanya) through the Taurus Mountains in southern Turkey.
Tourists are promised an “action-packed” and “entertainment-rich” excursion to remote viewpoints, during which a “water battle” will also take place while traveling in the vehicle. The trip lasts about eight hours and costs approximately 20 British pounds per person. The program also includes an hour-long boat ride on Green Lake near the coast, traditional Turkish lunch by the water, and stops at Manavgat Waterfall and the ancient ruins of Seleucia.
A representative for Tony Montana Excursions stated: “Tony Montana Excursions acts as a booking intermediary for tours in the Antalya region: ‘Like most local tour operators, we provide a platform that connects tourists with service providers. Our top priority right now is the well-being and safety of all involved in the incident. We have not yet spoken with all parties involved, so we believe it would be inappropriate to make any comments at this time.'”
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