ISTANBUL (AP) — A heavy downpour has shut down Istanbul, flooded homes and roads and killed at least three people, officials said Thursday, as rescuers worked overnight to save hundreds of people stranded at their workplaces.
The downpour Wednesday night flooded homes and businesses and inundated roads and underpasses, stranding vehicles and causing traffic chaos in Turkey’s largest city.
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The Istanbul governor's office on Thursday reported three deaths in the city and said four other people were reported missing. A 14-year-old was electrocuted after stepping in a puddle at a park in the Fatih district, and a 34-year-old slipped on a sidewalk in the Sariyer district and hit their head, local media reports said. The governor's office said the body of a third victim was discovered near another park in the Kagithane district.
Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said that more than 2,700 people who were stranded by the floods were safely evacuated throughout the city.
The Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality said that some areas had the highest amount of rain since 1985.
In Sakarya province, around 150 kilometers (93 miles) east of Istanbul, a two-story house that was built on a riverbed collapsed in the floods, HaberTurk television reported. It wasn't immediately known if anyone was inside the structure.
The country’s weather agency has predicted more showers for Istanbul and the surrounding area in the coming days.
The governor’s office extended a schools’ closure order to include Friday, and some state employees were placed on leave Thursday.
Advice issued by the governor’s office late Wednesday asked residents to stay home unless travel was absolutely necessary. Motorcycles were barred from traffic.
