Floods that swept through Istanbul and adjoining Tekirdag Province killed at least 32 people, with eight people still missing, a new toll released yesterday by Anatolia news agency said.
As a massive rescue operation started, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the floods the “disaster of the century.”
Three days of torrential rains, the heaviest rainfall in at least eight decades, sent flash floods barreling across a major highway and a business district in Istanbul on Wednesday, stranding many people in apartments and some in trees and on car roofs.
PHOTO: REUTERS/ISTANBUL METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITY
The worst flooding in Istanbul occurred in areas in the west of the city, on the European side, where drainage is often poor.
The latest fatal victim found in mud was a man whose wife and three daughters were also killed when the deluge swept through their farm at Saray in the province of Tekirdag, to the west of Istanbul, Anatolia news agency reported.
Rescuers recovered 13 bodies at a truck park in the Istanbul district of Basaksehir, NTV news channel reported.
Survivors said the drivers were asleep in their trucks when a 5m-high flash flood hit, giving them little chance to escape, Anatolia reported.
“We heard a crashing sound and then saw the waters coming down carrying cars and debris,” said Nuri Bitken, a 42-year-old night guard at a truck garage.
“We tried to wake up those who were still asleep in the trucks but some didn’t make it. The dead had to be retrieved by boats,” he said.
As the water receded, the park was left under a thick layer of mud with trucks toppled on their sides or piled on top of each other.
Seven women drowned in neighboring Halkali district, swept away as they tried to escape their minibus taking them to work at a textile factory, Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said.
“The minibus was right at the front of the factory. It was hit by water coming from both sides. Those at the front managed to get out, but those at the back could not,” the governor said.
Twenty-six of the dead are in Istanbul. Another five died in Saray, west of Istanbul, reportedly all from the same family.
Though the rains eased on Wednesday night, new storms were predicted for today and tomorrow.
Many roads remained cut off yesterday, many under 2m of mud and water, including the main highway to Istanbul airport.
The interior ministry pledged the state would compensate Istanbul residents, while the Red Crescent said it had dispatched tents, blankets, food and personnel to Istanbul and Tekirdag Province to help survivors.
Public Works Minister Mustafa Demir, who toured the worst hit areas, said there was “huge damage to infrastructure.”
Officials and experts blamed record rainfall and the unplanned urbanization of the city, which saw buildings constructed on riverbeds.
The Turkish media yesterday condemned the wildcat planning and official negligence in Istanbul, which has been designated Europe’s Cultural Capital for next year.
“Who is going to be brought to account for this?” asked the Milliyet newspaper, which highlighted large number of building permits for construction near rivers. It also said city officials had ignored warnings of major storms made by meteorological experts.
The Vatan newspaper called for the resignation of the city government.
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