Pesky seagull sparks major pile-up on busy Turkish motorway

A seagull brought a busy Turkish motorway to a complete standstill after inadvertently causing a major pile-up.

Incredibly, just one person was injured in the horrific nine-vehicle smash on the Mecidiyekoy D-100 in Istanbul.

But it left hundreds of other motorists snarled in huge traffic jams for several hours.

The accident happened after the bird ran out into the road to eat a flattened animal.

The driver slammed on the breaks to avoid hitting it. But while the bird flew off unscathed, the sudden braking manoeuvre caused a massive pile-up behind.

One-by-one in quick succession, eight other cars and vans smashed into each other as they had no time to stop.

The accident occurred at 7am in rush hour traffic, and was captured on overhead flow cameras.

Taxi driver Ferhat Cirpma was injured in the accident and taken to the nearby Sisli Hamidiye hospital. His current condition is not known.

A tow truck was brought in to take the broken-down vehicles away for repair.