Turkey train derailment kills 24 and injures hundreds

Twenty four people have been killed after a passenger train derailed in northwestern Turkey on Sunday, officials say.

Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdag said the crash happened because heavy rain had caused the ground under the rails to collapse.

The train was heading to Istanbul from Edirne, on the border with Greece, with 362 passengers and six crew members on board.

Five of its six cars derailed in the incident near a village in Tekirdag province.

Health Minister Ahmet Demircan said 318 were injured, with some 124 of them still being treated in hospitals.

Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan said seven other trains had used the route earlier on Sunday but the rain had caused "extraordinary swelling."

Judicial and administrative investigations have been launched into the derailment.

A media ban issued Sunday by the government, citing national security and public order, was lifted Monday.