Russian woman declared dead in Antalya is alive: her husband demands justice

The fatal D-400 highway in the Turkish province of Antalya, considered “cursed” among the locals due to the regular death of tourists on it, continues to reap its deadly harvest. Today, July 13, two tourists from the Czech Republic died on it. But the Russian woman, announced by the Turkish press as dead in an accident with a tourist bus on July 6, on the contrary, turned out to be alive. In that tragedy, it turns out that not a Russian woman from Murmansk died, but a Russian from Kandalaksha. But to find out this close to the one whom the Turkish rumor has already buried, it was worth a lot of work and wild nerves. We talked with the husband and sister of Tatyana from Murmansk, who was on the fatal bus and was named dead in the Turkish press, and shared the horror of this Russian family.

Guests of the Turkish coast cannot avoid the D-400 state highway: buses carry new arrivals from Antalya International Airport to Kemer, Marmaris, Fethiye, Alanya and other popular resorts of the province, as well as those who have already rested there for flights home. Accidents with tourist buses occur there with such frightening frequency that the residents of Manavgat and other settlements along the road, tired of the terrible sights under their windows, decided that a “tourist curse” had been placed on the highway. True, the vacationers themselves, who have experienced the Turkish driving style, are sure that this is due to the recklessness of local drivers who do not make any allowance for the fact that “they are not transporting firewood, but people who, moreover, paid a lot of money for this vacation.”

From the last “deadly harvest” of the fatal route – the tragedy on June 18 with a tourist bus carrying Russians to the airport, as a result of which many were injured, but only the local driver himself, 60-year-old Nuri Okuidan, died. And two weeks later – at 4 am on July 6 – again a terrible accident and again with a tourist bus carrying already rested Russians to the Antalya airport – a group from the Murmansk region. Then the Turkish press announced Tatyana, a 44-year-old woman from Murmansk, dead, and even her last name was indicated in Turkish newspapers. But a week after the tragedy, the family of a Murmansk woman, named dead, contacted MK and said that Tatyana was alive. All this time, since the fateful July 6, she has been in a coma in a hospital in the Turkish city of Serik, near which a tourist bus with Russians crashed into a standing truck with logs. But information about the state of Tatiana’s family has to literally “squeeze out” from the representative of the travel company that sent her on vacation.

Tatyana’s husband Dmitry conducted his own investigation – and now he knows everything about the fatal accident for their family, except where and from whom to get timely and reliable information about his wife’s condition, her treatment and doctors’ forecasts.

– I talked to 3 people who were in the same bus with Tatyana, – says Dmitry. I found them myself on social media. And so no one really told me anything. I came to meet my wife at Murmansk airport, the plane from Antalya arrived at 12.52. At that time, I still did not know anything, although the accident occurred at 4 am, and we have the same time with Turkey. That is, for 8 hours no one bothered to inform the family in Russia that a misfortune had happened to their vacationing loved ones! I began to call Tatyana and just by the beeps I realized that her phone was in Turkey, that is, for some reason she did not arrive. Later, at the airport check-in desk, I was given a laconic message from the travel agency, on the basis of which my wife was resting, that she was in the hospital. Everything else I had to find out myself from other victims.

– Tatyana rested with someone?

– No, my wife was alone. But on the bus in front of her was a woman with a 10-year-old girl. They remembered Tatyana very well and worried about her. They even posted a post on social networks asking them to report on her condition, they saw how she was taken away by an ambulance. And another woman with a daughter from Kandalaksha, their husband and father died right before their eyes.

– What exactly happened on July 6 on this ill-fated D-400? And they all say different things.

– It was a night transfer to the airport, Tatyana was sitting in the “midibus” – this is a medium-sized tourist bus, he rode in the left lane behind a large bus carrying tourists to the same flight to Murmansk. Apparently, such a travel agency provided logistics. On a section with very poor visibility, the bus driver, where Tatiana was sitting, decided to overtake a large bus on the right, increased speed, and went to overtake. And a truck with logs was parked at the right side of the road – without an emergency gang, without side lights. The driver simply did not see her, and the speed was 100 km / h. Can you imagine driving not a passenger car at such a speed, but a bus, and even at night with poor visibility and with tourists? The driver tried to avoid the collision, but could not: it passed tangentially on the right side of the bus. Glass on the right all flew out. A family from Kandalaksha had their father directly scalped with glass before their very eyes. This man did not survive. Tatyana was also sitting on the right, apparently due to a craniocerebral injury, she immediately lost consciousness. And since she was alone, she was almost completely forgotten on the bus. Thanks to the 10-year-old girl sitting in front with her mother, they noticed her and reminded her of her. Otherwise, she herself did not give any signals and she could really be forgotten. It’s good that the bus did not catch fire immediately after the impact, otherwise there would have been much more victims. But, of course, still in shock. Many wounds, bruises. In general, they all miraculously survived! The girl, who saw all this, was forced to be sent for examination by her mother, she has a nervous shock. And the day before, they also got into an accident on the way to the water park.

– This was apparently a warning sign to them!

– Yes, this is a sign to all of us that the Turks simply kill with their driving! I don’t know how and to whom I should turn to convey my words to the Turks: stop killing our people!

– Tatyana’s insurance company contacted you?

– No, only a representative of a travel agency with very limited information. Like insurance, Tatyana has a basic one with a coverage of 30 thousand euros, while it covers her stay in the hospital. But what will happen next, no one knows or reports.

– You were not offered to fly to Turkey?

– No, no one offered, despite the fact that Tatyana’s handbag is now in the police, and they do not want to give it to representatives of the travel agency, they say that they will give it only to relatives. In the purse is a passport, from which the Turkish press, in fact, learned the name of Tatyana in order to declare her dead. Olga, Tatyana’s sister, sent a letter to the Foreign Ministry asking our consulate in Antalya to assist us, but there is no answer yet.

– What exactly is the assistance?

– Firstly, in obtaining information about Tatyana. And secondly, we believe that it is necessary to file a lawsuit against the carrier company, they also have policies like our OSAGO. Moreover, they carry tourists. Our relatives suffered, and a woman with a child from Kandalaksha was left without a breadwinner due to their fault. And she still needs to transport her husband’s body home, bury it, and then put her little daughter on her feet. Foreign tourists, similarly injured in an accident due to the fault of Turkish drivers, receive compensation from carriers of $100,000 or more. Is it possible to kill Russians just like that, or what?! I believe that the security of Russians, replenishing the Turkish treasury with considerable sums for their holidays, must be approached systematically. They can’t start driving normally in a good way, maybe the payments will enlighten them. We, the families of the victims, will fight for justice.

…While we were talking with the husband of a Russian tourist lying in a coma, on the same highway and on the same stretch of Manavgat-Alanya again an accident with a tourist bus. This time, he rammed a group of tourists going to the market right at the pedestrian crossing, as a result, two tourists from the Czech Republic were killed.