ANKARA, July 27 (AFP) - Turkish authorities Tuesday put the death toll from the derailment of an express train last week at 37, saying that difficulties in identifying mutilated body parts were causing confusion in the count.
According to official accounts, the toll had risen to 38 earlier in the day when a hospital announced the death of a woman who suffered severe injuries in Thursday's accident in the northwestern province of Sakarya.
A crisis desk in Ankara, however, said the death of the 19-year-old Serap Sarikose had brought the number of dead to 37.
"The question whether body parts kept in the Pamukova state hospital... belong to bodies that have been previously identified or to another person will be clarified only after DNA tests," the statement said.
Sarikose succumbed to her injuries on Monday while still in intensive care, a spokeswoman from the intensive care unit told AFP.
She was among the 81 injured when the fast train derailed while on its way from Istanbul to the capital Ankara.
Experts are preparing a report on the cause of the accident, which ocurred about two months after the service was inaugurated despite warnings that the country's decrepit tracks would not withstand high speeds.
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.
Transport Minister Binali Yildirim said last week the train had exceeded the speed limit at the crash site, an argument disputed by the lawyer of the two drivers and trade unions.