Teenager dies as heavy rain floods Istanbul

Roads collapse and hospitals take in water as floods swamp Turkiye’s largest city, shutting schools and halting traffic.

A teenage boy has died after torrential rain battered Istanbul, flooding hundreds of homes, causing roads to cave in and bringing traffic to a near standstill in Turkiye’s largest city.

The footage showed the boy walking through puddles at the entrance of a car park before suddenly collapsing to the ground.

The governor’s office suspended classes across the city for Thursday and banned motorcycles from the roads, the Associated Press reported. State employees with disabilities and mothers with young children were placed on leave.

Turkiye’s Interior Ministry warned of sudden flooding in several provinces on Wednesday and Thursday.

Water filled roads and underpasses, leaving vehicles stranded in several districts, including Esenyurt and Sultangazi.

Emergency services received more than 2,500 reports of weather-related incidents, Daily Sabah reported.

Sections of road collapsed in the Eyupsultan and Gaziosmanpasa districts, the Turkiye Today news website reported.

Traffic density reached about 90 percent during the evening rush hour, and flights were operating normally, the newspaper said.