At least two people have lost their lives in Istanbul as a result of the intense torrential rains and severe flooding recorded in the last hours in the largest city in Turkey, according to local authorities.
The office of the governor of Istanbul has detailed that one of the victims is a fourteen-year-old minor who died electrocuted after stepping on a deep puddle in the Fatih district. The other fatal victim is a 34-year-old man who died after suffering a fall while trying to cross a flooded street in the Ayazaga area.
Authorities have emphasized that "the heavy rains are negatively impacting daily life" in the city and have reported the establishment of "a crisis management center" to coordinate the response to the emergency, which includes the suspension of in-person classes this Thursday and the deployment of 8,000 agents and 2,000 units of machinery.
Additionally, they have indicated that, for the moment, it has been verified that around 50 people have been trapped by the rising waters, which have also caused damage to more than 800 homes and 76 vehicles. Despite the magnitude of the storm, the same sources have specified that operations at the airports continue normally and that no flight cancellations have been recorded so far.