Heavy rain shuts down Istanbul, causing flooding and 3 deaths

ISTANBUL (AP) — A heavy downpour has shut down Istanbul, flooded homes and roads and killed at least three people, officials said Thursday, as rescuers worked overnight to save hundreds of people stranded at their workplaces.The downpour Wednesday night flooded homes and businesses and inundated roads and underpasses, stranding vehicles and causing traffic chaos in Turkey’s largest city.The Istanbul governor's office on Thursday reported three deaths in the city and said four other people were reported missing. A 14-year-old was electrocuted after stepping in a puddle at a park in the Fatih district, and a 34-year-old slipped on a sidewalk in the Sariyer district and hit their head, local media reports said. The governor's office said the body of a third victim was discovered near another park in the Kagithane district.Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci said that more than 2,700 people who were stranded by the floods were safely evacuated throughout the city.The Istanbul Metropolitan Mun