Streets turn to rivers in deadly floods in Turkey


Flooding caused by heavy rain has led to at least 10 deaths in Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece.

Water cascaded through the streets in Turkey’s biggest city, Istanbul, washing away cars and trapping people in a local library.

Two people died in the city, as flash floods turned streets in some western districts into rivers, and a metro station at Kayasehir was flooded.

One of those who died was a woman who was reportedly swept away by the floodwaters.

Three more people died and three were missing in Kirklareli province, not far from Turkey’s north-western border with Bulgaria. Several homes were washed away by the floods in the town of Igneada on the Black Sea coast.

Further up the coast, Bulgarian authorities said two men and a woman died in the Tsarevo area. The woman’s body was said to have been swept out to sea.

One of the men who died had been working on the house of a mother and daughter who were still missing, Bulgarian reports said.

Rivers overflowed and authorities were working to evacuate tourists from a camp site at Arapya, just outside Tsarevo.

A bridge collapsed south of the town and there were reports that three people who had been on it at the time were missing.

Environment minister Julian Popov said Bulgaria would have to expect more serious and more frequent rainfall in the future because of climate change.

Torrential rain and flooding has caused two deaths in Greece, which has been battered by Storm Daniel.

The worst area affected is the central coastal region of Magnesia, which meteorologists said had seen as much rainfall in 24 hours as it usually experienced during an entire autumn.

A man’s body was recovered after a wall fell on top of him in Volos on Tuesday and a woman aged 87 was found dead in the same region on Wednesday.

Landslides closed roads and many elderly residents in the area around Mt Pelion were trapped in their homes.


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