Powerful storm pounds Turkey; 4 dead, several injured

A powerful storm pounded Istanbul and other parts of Turkey on Monday, killing at least four people and causing havoc in the city of 15 million people, reports said.

The victims included a woman who died in Istanbul’s Esenyurt district, where strong gusts tore off part of a roof and it landed on her and her child, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The child survived with injuries.

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The Istanbul governor’s office said three other people were killed in the city, including a foreign national. Nineteen people were injured, including three people who were in serious condition, it said.

The gusts also knocked down a clock tower, television images showed. The winds blew away 33 roofs, uprooted 192 trees, knocked down 52 traffic lights and road signs and damaged 12 cars, according to the Istanbul municipality.

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The Bosporus, the narrow waterway that bisects the city, was closed to maritime traffic and ferry services were canceled.

At least six Turkish Airlines flights scheduled to land in Istanbul were diverted to the cities of Ankara and Izmir, an airline spokesman said.

The strong winds also forced authorities to cancel ferry services between the coastal resorts of Bodrum and Datca, the private DHA news agency reported.