Turkey floods: man's body found in Ankara after heavy rainfall

Search and rescue teams and fire crews were sent to the area after Ilkay Yigit's death

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A man was killed after heavy rain fell on Turkey’s capital Ankara on Saturday, authorities said.

Search and rescue teams located the body of the 27-year-old bus driver, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

Almost 50 personnel and crews from Ankara’s fire service were sent to the area. The man’s body was found near a river, among tree branches.

Ankara mayor Mansur Yavas said the man was called Ilkay Yigit. "We lost our party's Mamak Youth Branch vice president Ilkay Yigit in the flood disaster in our city," he wrote on Twitter.

Mr Yavas said 35 people had been rescued. He reported flooding in 300 locations, 35 fallen trees and the collapse of 23 roofs and three utility poles. More than 3,000 staff were working in the affected areas.

Ankara Metropolitan Municipality's website said wind speeds of 92 kilometres per hour had been measured, alongside 127 kilograms of rain. Ankara's annual average is 392kg.

The municipality intervened in 6,670 incidents, including 250 falling trees, 63 falling roofs and five wall collapses.

Almost 1,500 vehicles and 4,000 personnel were sent to minimise the effects of the flooding, the website said.

A spokesman for Turkey’s Interior Ministry said earlier that authorities received a tip-off that one person had gone missing in the storm.

Updated: June 20, 2023, 1:58 PM