Several firefighters standing beside a motorway and a burning lorry amidst huge plumes of smoke

Driver dies after lorry catches fire in road accident in Turkey

A lorry loaded with lubricating oil veered off the road and plunged down an embankment in a serious accident on a motorway in the province of Aksaray, in central Turkey. The driver, trapped inside the vehicle, lost his life after a fire broke out. It took firefighters around two hours to extinguish the flames, which completely destroyed the lorry.

The accident occurred at around 12.30 pm yesterday near the Nevşehir Derinkuyu toll booth on the motorway linking the Turkish cities of Ankara and Niğde, according to the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet. The lorry, driven by Burak Karagöz, aged 30, was carrying lubricating oil when, for reasons still under investigation, he lost control and veered off the road, overturning after falling down an embankment.

As a result of the impact, the lorry’s fuel tank was punctured and a fire broke out due to friction, which spread rapidly. After being alerted by several witnesses, units from the gendarmerie, medical teams and the UMKE (National Medical Rescue Team), as well as numerous firefighters, rushed to the scene of the accident.

It took the fire brigade two hours to extinguish the flames

Teams from the Provincial Highway Gendarmerie Command in the neighbouring province of Nevşehir put in place extensive safety measures on the road, whilst the fire brigade worked to try to bring under control the flames, which quickly engulfed the entire vehicle, creating thick smoke visible from a great distance.

The fire was extinguished approximately two hours later thanks to the intervention of the fire crews, although the lorry was completely burnt out. Subsequent investigations determined that the driver, who was found amongst the wreckage of the vehicle, had been trapped inside following the accident and died as a direct result of the blaze.

The body of the lorry driver was taken to the morgue at Aksaray Research Hospital for a post-mortem examination and to establish his identity. Authorities in Turkey have launched an investigation to clarify the circumstances of this tragic accident.