ANKARA, July 23 (AFP) - The head of Turkey's state-run railways ruled out the possibility of a sabotage in a train derailment that killed 36 people, but added that the authorities were examining all possibilities.
"There is no sabotage. But we are assessing all possibilities," Suleyman Karaman, the director-general of Turkish State Railways (TCDD), told Anatolia news agency on Friday.
There was no immediate explanation for the accident, which occurred near the northwestern town of Pamukova in Sakarya province. A total of 36 people were reported killed and 79 injured.
However survivors said the train was travelling too fast along old tracks.
The train was a fast express from Istanbul to Ankara, which was inaugurated last month amid much fanfare despite criticism that the infrastructure was not suitable for such a project.
"Technical teams are continuing to work at the site of the accident. But I have to underline that the speed of all our trains here is the same because it is a region with bends," Karaman said.
Tha train was supposed to be travelling at a speed of 75 to 80 kilometres at the site of the crash, according to railway officials said.
A railway engineer at the crash site claimed the train was in fact running at 140 kilometres (87 miles) per hour, while a survivor said he saw a speedometer indicating 132 kilometres per hour.