ANKARA, July 25 (AFP) - Fourteen people were killed and six others were injured on Sunday when a passenger train crashed into a minibus in western Turkey, the Anatolia news agency reported.
The accident happened as the minibus was passing a level crossing on tracks running from Aydin -- the province`s main city bearing the same name -- to the western coastal city of Izmir, the agency said.
The acting governor of Aydin blamed the fatal accident on the driver of the minibus.
"The driver of the minibus tried to cross through the barriers closing off the railroad. The accident was caused solely by the driver`s error," Omer Eru was quoted by Anatolia as telling the agency.
All the victims and the injured were the passengers on the minibus.
Footage broadcast on the NTV news channel showed officials carrying body bags from the wreckage of the badly damaged minibus stuck on the tracks.
Officials immediately removed the wreckage and opened the railway back to traffic, NTV said.
Sunday`s accident came three days after a packed express train on its way from Istanbul to Ankara derailed in the northwestern town of Pamukova, killing 37 people and injuring 81, in one of Turkey`s worst-ever rail crashes.
Officials have said that the cause of the accident in Pamukova will become clear after they complete a technical investigation, but three crew members -- the train`s guard, and two drivers -- were charged on Saturday with causing the death of several people through negligence and carelessness.
Their arrest came a day after Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said that the train had been travelling at 118 kilometers (73 miles) per hour, well above the speed limit of 80 kilometers per hour.