A four-year-old child was killed and 12 people were injured in Turkey’s eastern district of Saray, Van (Wan) on Sunday as troops and village guards opened fire on a vehicle carrying Afghan migrants.
The vehicle was targeted after the driver failed to comply with a warning to stop, according to witnesses.
While over 20 immigrants managed to escape on foot, the injured were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
The governor’s office in the city of Van (Wan) claimed later on Twitter that only the tyres of the vehicle were targeted, and that the four-year-old was killed by a ‘ricocheting bullet’.
It said:
“The tyres of the vehicle were targeted to stop it as the driver did not comply with a warning to stop and drove towards gendarmerie troops. The tyres were blasted and the vehicle stopped. Unfortunately one of the migrants lost his life when he was hit by one of the ricocheting bullets. 12 other migrants were lightly injured.”