Istanbul Train Hits Water Tanker; Sabotage Not Ruled Out

A passenger train carrying 51 people struck a large water tanker that had been placed on the tracks in Istanbul on 18 August 2004, damaging the locomotive. No injuries were reported. The train had been traveling from Bucharest when it hit the obstruction.

A railway authority spokesman said the incident did not appear accidental and that investigators would examine whether it was deliberate. The collision comes after two recent fatal crashes highlighted serious safety concerns about Türkiye's aging rail network, including a July derailment that killed 37 people and a separate head-on collision last week that left eight dead.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in August 2004, in its own words.