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Four Greeks and a Turk were killed and five more were seriously injured after a crash that happened today at 4.50 am on the road Ipsala-Istanbul in Turkey, near Malgara. The bus of the Turkish company Metro, traveling the regular route from Istanbul to Athens, overturned in an abyss because of low visibility on the road and bad weather. There are Greek citizens among the victims and seriously injured who were taken to the hospital in Malgara.

A total of twelve people were in the crashed bus - nine of them were passengers, two drivers and a steward. According to Turkish authorities, the Greek nationals who died in the crash are Sofia Mariadi, Minas Solakidis, Arkadios Moisidis and Photo Matakidi, who had dual citizenship - Greek and Turkish, and the Turkish citizen Yasar Demirer, reported Ethnos newspaper. The bodies of the victims were taken to the hospital in Malgara and the wounded were hospitalized in Redestos.  

The Greeks Panagiotis Paletidis, Maria Mariadi and Vasilis Naris were injured in the crash. Immediately after the crash Turkish prosecutors have requested the assistance of the Greek Consulate to identify the victims because some of them were pulled out from under the bus where they were stuck.

According to Turkish media, the road was slippery and icy and the bus fell into the abyss because the protective railings along the road were broken. Witnesses to the crash said the bus fell into eight metres deep abyss. Most likely, the accident was due to the low visibility in the region because of bad weather.

The Greek Consul in Edirne Paraskevi Dzivelikou has assumed the responsibility for identifying the victims and for the treatment of the wounded, most of whom are in the hospital in Malgara. According to initial information, the majority of bus passengers were Greeks of Pontian origin who came from the regions of former Soviet republics, reported Vima newspaper.

Representatives of the Greek consulate in Istanbul and of the consulate in Edirne immediately left to the place of the accident. C-130 military aircraft is ready to fly too, ANA-MPA reported.