Construction closure of sidewalk in Zeytinburnu forces pedestrian onto road; worker struck by truck and killed

On Wednesday, November 4 at 18:10, in the Maltepe neighborhood of Zeytinburnu, Şenel Çıtak was walking home from work on Litros Yolu Sokak when he was forced to step onto the road because the sidewalk was closed due to construction work. A truck whose license plate could not be identified at the time struck Çıtak and fled the scene.

Following reports from bystanders who witnessed the accident, an ambulance passing through the area transported the severely injured Çıtak to the nearest hospital. Çıtak suffered severe bone fractures and internal bleeding. After approximately four to five hours of surgery, he died from brain edema and skull fractures. Following an examination of security camera footage, police took the vehicle's driver into custody; the investigation is ongoing.

Çıtak's son, Ömer Faruk Çıtak, recounted learning from a hospital call that his father had bleeding and fractures to his skull and neck: "The person who hit him comes fast, hits him, and keeps going. If 112 Emergency Call Center had been reached at that moment, if assistance had been provided immediately, perhaps I would not have lost my father right now."

His nephew İsa Çıtak noted that the truck stopped 15 meters ahead and the driver drove away without getting out to check. Coworker Halit Zinetbaş said that after the accident, precautions were taken with barriers at the scene, but the real problem was the construction work that had closed the sidewalk: "Our problem in Turkey is that we take measures only after we lose something."

Çıtak's body was returned to his family after autopsy; following the afternoon prayer held at Akşemsettin Mosque in Küçükçekmece, he was buried at Yeni Ayazağa Cemetery.