A violent head-on collision between a truck and a passenger minibus has killed nine people on a highway in the Özalp district of Van province, eastern Türkiye. Authorities say the crash happened at around 7:05 p.m. on November 8, 2026, on the Özalp-Saray highway, where recent rainfall had left the road surface slippery.

Van Governor Ozan Balcı told the Anadolu Agency that the minibus involved was registered in Iran, a detail that points to the cross-border traffic regularly seen in this corner of the country — Van sits close to the Iranian border and serves as a transit corridor for regional travellers and traders. Five women and four men died in the crash. Three women and two men survived with injuries and were taken to hospital. Officials were still working to formally identify the victims.

The emergency response was substantial. Gendarmerie and police units, firefighters, medical crews, and teams from AFAD (Türkiye's disaster and emergency management authority) and UMKE, the national medical rescue service, were all dispatched to the scene. The governor travelled to the site alongside provincial security officials and Ipekyolu District Governor Tufan Bağır Gilan to review the response.

The Özalp-Saray highway was temporarily closed while investigators documented the crash and crews removed the two vehicles. Road maintenance teams cleared the carriageway and the route was reopened once the initial investigation wrapped up.

For travellers, the incident is a sobering reminder about driving conditions in eastern Anatolia, particularly after dark and in wet weather. Mountain roads around Van, Özalp and the Iranian border can be poorly lit, shared with heavy freight traffic, and prone to becoming slick quickly when rain arrives. Anyone renting a car or taking shared minibuses (dolmuş) in the region should favour daylight travel where possible, check weather forecasts before setting out, and be aware that long-distance routes here carry commercial truck traffic year-round.

Van itself remains one of eastern Türkiye's most rewarding stops — the vast blue lake that gives the province its name, the dramatic hilltop Van Kalesi fortress, and the celebrated Van breakfast spread draw visitors despite the region's remoteness. But the infrastructure is thinner than on Türkiye's western tourist routes, and conditions can change fast, especially outside the summer months. This crash, on a rain-slicked highway in the early evening, underlines that.

Story reported by Daily Sabah Travel.