Eleven people were killed and 27 injured when a tour bus bound for the thermal springs of Denizli collided with a truck near the Akhisar toll gates on the Gebze-Orhangazi-Izmir Highway in western Türkiye on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026 — a crash that left both vehicles overturned on the median and has since put three drivers in custody.
Authorities received the report at 11:11 a.m. local time, near the highway entrance in Akhisar district of Manisa province. Ambulances, fire crews, police and other emergency units converged on the scene in large numbers, and the injured were ferried to hospitals across the area. “Health and rescue teams were directed to the scene, and efforts to rescue our citizens affected by the accident were quickly launched,” the Manisa Governor’s Office said in a statement.
The bus, license plate 16 AED 124, was carrying 34 passengers and three crew members from Bursa toward Izmir, headed for Pamukkale in Denizli. The truck had one driver aboard. Photographs distributed from the scene showed the bus slumped across the safety barriers, its rear end crushed.
What the Highway Cameras Showed
According to initial findings, the bus missed the Akhisar toll gates and was reversing when a truck loaded with lumber, coming up from behind, slammed into it. Highway camera footage captured the sequence: the bus backing up after overshooting the junction, the truck closing in, then both vehicles tipping over onto the median strip.
Gendarmerie teams spent the day working the site while highway crews began clearing the roadway, the area filmed from above by drone. Cranes were eventually brought in to hoist the overturned bus and truck off the median and haul them away.
The Dead and the Injured
Manisa Gov. Vahdettin Ozkan visited the crash site and was briefed by officials. He put the toll at 11 dead and 27 injured. Of those taken to hospitals, 16 were classified under yellow code, nine under green code and one under red code, the most urgent category.
Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said later that all 27 injured were under treatment, with one in serious condition, 18 in moderate condition and eight doing well. Three of the dead were taken to the morgue of a private hospital in Akhisar; the other eight were taken to the morgue of Akhisar Mustafa Kirazoglu State Hospital. The 11 identified victims ranged in age from 58 to 88.
A Morning That Began in Bursa
Security camera footage traced the trip’s unhurried start. The bus pulled away from a restaurant on Ulubatli Hasan Boulevard in Bursa’s Osmangazi district at about 6:30 a.m. Before departure, Metin Yavuz, 62, the tour organizer, was filmed walking into the restaurant, chatting with staff and sitting down to eat while he waited for the scheduled departure time. At 8:20 a.m., after picking up its passengers, the bus swung into a fuel station in the Mustafakemalpasa district for a brief stop. Seven minutes later, everyone reboarded and the bus continued on. Yavuz is among the injured.
Three Prosecutors, Three Drivers Detained
Justice Minister Akin Gurlek said the judicial investigation opened by the Akhisar Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office is being handled by three public prosecutors. Ozkan said work at the site was continuing under the coordination of the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. A statement from prosecutors said the bus driver, identified as M.A., the backup bus driver, M.Y., and the truck driver, H.K., had been taken into custody.
Ciftci said the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, police, gendarmerie, fire and 112 emergency health teams were rushed to the scene and that the government was tracking the response alongside every relevant institution. He prayed for God’s mercy on those killed and wished the injured a swift recovery. Presidential Communications Director Burhanettin Duran also offered condolences to the families and relatives of the dead and wished the injured a speedy recovery.