Suspects in hit-and-run accident in Istanbul arrested in US

By Serdar Dincel

ISTANBUL (AA) – Turkish Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said on Friday that suspects in a hit-and-run accident in Istanbul had been arrested in the US.

"According to the information we received today from the US Department of Justice officials, Eylem Tok and her son Timur Cihantimur were arrested in the US as part of our extradition request," Tunc wrote in a post on X.

He added: "We are closely following the process."

On March 1, one of the 3 ATV vehicles traveling in Eyupsultan district broke down and during repair of the faulty vehicle, one of the two vehicles traveling in the same direction crashed into the 3 ATVs. Oguz Murat Aci, one of the 5 injured people in the accident, later lost his life.

It was determined that 17-year-old driver Timur Cihantimur, who caused the accident, fled with his mother Eylem Tok's vehicle, who came to the scene, and went to Egypt and then to the US with his mother.

A provisional arrest request for the suspects' extradition has been sent to US authorities.