1 December 2009 / TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL
Heavy fog continued to paralyze daily life in some parts of Turkey on the last day of the four-day Eid al-Adha vacation on Monday, causing multiple traffic accidents and pile-ups.
The thick fog led to accidents in the northwestern province of Sakarya, resulting in many injuries and vehicular damage. In İstanbul, the dense fog led İstanbul Seabuses and Fast Ferries Inc. (İDO) to cancel some of its ferry departures over the extremely low visibility range.
Many vehicles traveling on the Basın Ekspress highway and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridge had to turn on their emergency blinkers due to the low visibility. A statement released by the Coast Guard noted that the İstanbul Strait was closed to transit vessel passage due to intense fog at 2:03 a.m. Through passage was allowed again after 12 p.m. As many people headed to their hometowns for the Eid al-Adha vacation, the existence of heavy fog on the roads led to pile-ups as vacationers were returning back to the city yesterday.
