Report: 11 killed in Istanbul flood

By IBRAHIM USTA, Associated Press Writer

ISTANBUL, Turkey – Flash floods gushed across an Istanbul arterial road on Wednesday, killing 11 people and stranding dozens of vehicles, reports said.

As waters rose more than a meter (3 feet) high in the city's Ikitelli district, motorists climbed on roofs of their vehicles waiting to be rescued. The floods occurred in the early hours as people began making their way to work, washing over a main road linking the city to an industrial area, an airport and a highway to Greece.

Istanbul firefighters recovered four bodies at a truck parking lot off the highway, the state-run Anatolia news agency reported.

CNN-Turk television said seven other bodies were recovered at a gas station in the nearby district of Halkali.

There was no immediate official confirmation of the deaths, which would raise the overall toll in floods that have hit swaths of northwestern Turkey to at least 19.

The heavy rains caused two Istanbul streams to swell and overflow, also inundating dozens of homes and workplaces.

Rapid population growth — fueled by decades of emigration from Turkey's impoverished rural regions — has meant that the metropolis of some 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 who visited the area. "There is huge damage to infrastructure."

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

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 the stranded motorists.

Private Dogan news agency footage showed a man stranded atop an overturned van, then letting himself go in the water and swimming toward four men who catch him and help him out of the flood.

CNN-Turk television showed rescuers in an inflatable boat assisting another man stranded inside a van.

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

Waters receded in parts of Ikitelli later on Wednesday leaving a trail of mud.

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. Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler said eight other people were missing.

More rains were forecast for northwestern Turkey on Thursday.