Statements on casualties in Turkish Airlines crash create controversy

Footage aired by Dutch broadcasters and news agencies showed bodies in body bags like the one Hurriyet Daily News Online used for this story. In the photograph bodies can be seen lying on the ground, covered, by the wreckage.

However initial statements regarding the accident made by Turkish officials, including those representing the Transportation Ministry and executives from THY, said all passengers survived the crash, prompting local media to label the accident as a "miracle".

The situation created controversy and raised question. The CEO of THY, Temel Kotil said: "Nobody has been killed."

And Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim echoed a similar view: "There are injured but no deaths."

The first controversy, however, came from remarks made by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan when he told reporters that he sends his condolences to the family of the passenger killed in the accident. His remarks came ahead of the official statement on casualty numbers.

The Turkish public now awaits an official explanation on the situation that has begun to resemble an effort to cover up a disaster and present it as a miracle.