Two dead, 31 wounded in Turkey bus crash

At least two people were killed and 31 others wounded, including soldiers, after a passenger bus crashed into a truck in northern Turkey on Thursday.

The collision took place near Tosya, a town in the Black Sea coastal province of Kastamanu, according to Anadolu Agency.

Among the casualties were the bus driver and his assistant.

The bus was reportedly travelling from Istanbul to Samsun, located about 160 miles east of Tosya. None of the injured passengers are in serious condition, according to DHA news agency. 

The accident caused the highway to temporarily shut down, and authorities are investigating the cause of the collision.

About 10,000 people in Turkey die each year in road accidents, according to the World Health Organization.

Although Turkey has speed limits, laws on blood alcohol consumption while driving and seat-belt wearing, they are not well enforced.

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Only 44 percent of front-seat occupants and 36 percent of rear-seat passengers wear seat belts, according to 2015 WHO figures quoted by the Global Road Safety Partnership.

Turkey is currently working toward reducing road fatalities by 50 percent by 2020. 

A 2012 pilot road-safety campaign saw seat belt use rise from less than 8 percent to 50 percent in the prior two-and-a-half years in Afyonkarahisar province, according to the WHO.  

The UK Foreign Office's Turkey travel advisory warns to "take care" when journeying by road in Turkey, particularly at night. 

It adds that road conditions, though excellent in major cities, can be poor in rural areas. It said accidents are "common and mainly due to poor or reckless driving".

There were over 400,000 road traffic accidents in Turkey last year, according to local police. 

Agencies contributed to this report. 

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