TURKEY:Turkish Prime Minister Mr Tayyip Erdogan angrily rejected calls yesterday to sack key officials after a recently inaugurated high-speed train came off the rails, killing 36 people and injuring 81.
Under pressure from passengers, the media and trade unions, he said he would await a report on Thursday evening's crash, expected in seven to 10 days.
Officials say a mechanical fault was probably to blame.
But experts said the government had ignored warnings that Turkey's creaking rail tracks could not handle the high-speed train link between the country's commercial hub, Istanbul, and the capital, Ankara.
Asked whether his Transport Minister would resign, Mr Erdogan said: "Your question is the last thing that comes to mind. You can't ask such a question if you feel the pain . . . Should the government resign after every accident?"
The crash, in a mountainous area of north-west Turkey near the town of Pamukova, has embarrassed the government, which had inaugurated the new rail link in a blaze of publicity.