The death toll from floods and storms that have hit parts of Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria since Tuesday has risen to eight, according to official sources.
On Wednesday, rescue teams located the body of a missing tourist after being swept away by floodwaters that devastated a campsite in northwestern Turkey, bringing the number of fatalities in the three countries to eight. A flood at the campsite near the Bulgarian border washed away houses and cabins.
Hundreds of homes and workplaces in various neighborhoods of Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, have also been flooded during storms that have been brewing since Tuesday. According to the authorities, at least five people died, three at the campsite and two in Istanbul. Rescue teams are still searching for three missing people in the same camp.
Among the victims in Istanbul is “a 32-year-old Guinean citizen (country not specified) who was trapped in the basement of an apartment in the low-income neighborhood of Kucukcekmece,” Turkish broadcaster HaberTurk TV reported. The other victim was a 57-year-old woman who died after being swept away by floodwaters in another district of Istanbul, the private DHA news agency reported.
According to provisional data, the floods affected more than 1,750 homes and businesses in the city, the Istanbul governor’s office said.
In Greece, heavy rains on Tuesday killed at least one person near the central city of Volos and at least five people are still missing. According to firefighters, the man died when a wall collapsed.
In Bulgaria, a storm caused flooding on the southern Black Sea coast, killing two people. Three others are missing. Television images show cars and caravans swept into the sea in the southern Bulgarian resort town of Tsarevo. Authorities declared a state of emergency in the city and urged people, especially tourists, to take refuge on the upper floors of buildings as water flooded the ground floor of some hotels.
Source: Observadora
