ANKARA, Turkey — A road accident in eastern Turkey has killed 17 people, mostly migrants, who had crossed into the country illegally, a senior official said. Governor of Igdir province, Enver Unlu, said 36 people were also injured in the accident late on Thursday on a highway linking his province with neighbouring Kars province. Unlu said a minivan packed with migrants hit a light pole and caught fire. The state-run Anadolu agency said the migrants were from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran and that their vehicles had crossed into Turkey illegally from Iran. Anadolu quoted Igdir’s deputy chief health official, Taner Basaran, as saying as many as 50 migrants were “packed like sardines” into the minivans.

Source: National Post March 30, 2018 08:03 UTC