Flash floods slam Istanbul, kill at least 20

[September 09, 2009]  ISTANBUL (AP) -- Flash floods gushed across a major highway and a commercial district in Istanbul on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people and stranding dozens in cars or on rooftops, the city's governor said. Some of the dead drowned inside their vehicles.

Fueled by the worst rain in decades, waters rose more than three feet (a meter) high in the city's Ikitelli district, cutting off the route to Istanbul's main airport and the highway to Greece and Bulgaria on the European side of the sprawling city.

Gov. Muammer Guler said eight other people were still missing and 20 others were injured. The deaths raised the overall toll in floods that have slammed northwestern Turkey since late Monday to at least 28.

Stranded motorists desperately climbed onto the roofs of their vehicles, hoping to be rescued. Hikmet Cakmak, Istanbul's deputy governor, described the scene at Ikitelli as a "disaster" and said four helicopters and eight boats were sent to help rescue people.

Istanbul firefighters recovered seven bodies Wednesday at a truck parking lot in Ikitelli, Anatolia reported. Television footage showed trucks crushed against each other by the powerful floods.

Seven other bodies were found outside a textiles factory in the nearby district of Halkali. Guler said the victims were female factory workers who drowned, trapped inside a van that had just brought them to work. Television footage showed seven bodies covered in white sheets, placed in a row.

Guler did not give a breakdown for the six other deaths.

The heavy rains caused two Istanbul streams to overflow, also inundating dozens of homes and workplaces. The state-run Anatolia news agency said one building collapsed, but there were no reports of any casualties.

Rapid population growth -- fueled by decades of emigration from Turkey's impoverished rural regions -- has meant that the metropolis of 15 million has developed without adequate infrastructure and poor city planning.

"We are saddened by the loss of lives. There are still some people missing and we are searching for them," said Procurement Minister Mustafa Demir. "There is huge damage to infrastructure."

"We need to be more careful when designing infrastructure and cities," he said.

Istanbul's Ataturk Airport was not affected by the floods, and flights went ahead as normal, said deputy manager Celal Ozugur. However, many passengers could not reach the airport or leave it once they arrived.

The Dogan news agency showed dramatic footage of a man stranded atop an overturned van, who then let himself go in the swirling water and swam toward four men who caught him and pulled him out of the flood.

Television showed rescuers in an inflatable boat assisting another man stranded inside a van. A military helicopter lifted around 10 people from the top of a roof.

Authorities blocked off roads leading to the highway and people were being advised to avoid traveling in the area.

A trail of mud covered some areas as waters later receded in parts of Ikitelli.

Police were deployed to prevent people from looting goods from factories or shops affected by the floods. Even amid the flooding, an Associated Press photographer saw people pillaging goods from abandoned vehicles.

Meteorologists said the rainfall that hit Istanbul's Catalca suburb -- where two people died on Tuesday -- was the worst in 80 years. Six people were also swept away by floods in Saray, in Tekirdag province.

More rains were forecast for northwestern Turkey on Thursday.

[Associated Press; By IBRAHIM USTA]

Associated Press writer Suzan Fraser contributed to this report from Ankara, Turkey.

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