Turkish commuter rail firm refers to disruption in services due to worker's death as ‘technical reasons’

A worker working on the tracks of Istanbul’s commuter rail Marmaray lost his life on June 13 after he was hit by a train. The company attributed the disruption in services afterwards to “technical reasons.”

Wednesday June 14 2023 04:03 pm

Duvar English

Vedat Güçtekin, a railway worker on the tracks in Istanbul’s commuter rail Marmaray, on June 13 died after being hit by a train.

The railway company, affiliated with Turkish State Railways (TCDD), referred to the disruption of services due to workplace homicide as “technical reasons” on its social media accounts.

Teknik bir sebeple Marmaray trenleri Kazlıçeşme - Ataköy arası tek yoldan işletilmekte, seferler bu nedenle gecikmeli olarak yapılmaktadır.
— Marmaray (@Marmaraytcdd) June 13, 2023

The wife of the deceased worker reacted to the announcement made by Marmaray by quoting the company's announcement on her social media account. "What you call technical reasons is my husband of 8 months, Vedat Güçtekin! He was 32 years old just 3 days ago. I will be damned if I do not ask whoever is negligent to account for this as long as I live!" she wrote.

Sizin o teknik arıza dediğiniz benim 8 aylık eşim Vedat Güctekin!
Daha 3 gün önce 32 yaşına girmişti benim bitanem.
İhmali olan kim varsa yaşadığım sürece bunun hesabını sormazsam namerdim! https://t.co/ZICj1EnAxo
— çokdapınnn (@piinotellii) June 14, 2023

Three weeks ago, a cleaning worker was caught in high voltage while cleaning a train at one of the stops of the same line. The worker was seriously injured and hospitalized and remained in intensive care for a while.

According to the Occupational Health and Safety Council (İSİG) report, at least 730 workers lost their lives in the first five months of 2023 (120 in January, 213 in February, 130 in March, 122 in April and 145 in May).

The policy of using young and inexperienced workers without providing necessary safety precautions has been causing the death of thousands of workers every year.