The death toll from last week’s flooding in İstanbul and neighboring Kocaeli province rose to nine Tuesday after rescuers recovered the body of the last person reported missing in İstanbul, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported.
The İstanbul Governor’s Office said the body of Ahmet Derin was found in the Golden Horn, an inlet on the city’s European side. His death brought İstanbul’s toll to seven.
Two other people died after being swept away in Kocaeli’s Gebze district. Their bodies were recovered across the provincial boundary in İstanbul’s Pendik district, bringing the combined toll to nine, according to Anadolu.
The governor’s office said search and rescue operations in İstanbul had ended because no reported missing people remained unaccounted for.
Derin’s body was recovered at about 11 a.m. off waterfront facilities in Eyüpsultan district. He had disappeared during flooding in Ayazağa, a neighborhood in the northern part of the city.
Torrential rain on October 14 triggered flash floods that swept away vehicles, inundated homes and businesses and disrupted transport across Turkey’s largest city. Officials described the rainfall as the heaviest recorded since 1942.
Among those killed was a 14-year-old boy who was electrocuted after stepping into a puddle in the Balat neighborhood.
Governor Davut Gül said Monday that approximately 2,000 homes and 900 businesses had suffered serious damage. Emergency services received about 19,300 reports of damage and other problems.
Gül said initial payments of 10,000 lira, approximately $200, had been made to 5,200 affected residents on Friday, with another 2,500 people scheduled to receive the same amount Monday.
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