Death toll rises from fierce storms and flooding across Europe

Vehicles were left scattered during floods after heavy rain in Istanbul (Sercan Ozkurnazli/Dia Images via AP)

The death toll from severe rainstorms that have lashed parts of Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria has increased to nine after rescue teams located the bodies of a missing tourist who was swept away by floodwaters that raged through a campsite in Turkey and of another person in Greece.

A flash flood at the campsite near the border with Bulgaria carried away bungalow homes.

Hundreds of homes and workplaces in several neighbourhoods in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city, were also inundated during Tuesday’s storms.

A man cleans debris from floodwater in the town of Volos, central Greece (Anastasia Karekla/Eurokinissi/AP)

At least five people died, three at the campsite and two in Istanbul, authorities said. Rescuers were still searching for three people reported missing at the campsite.

The victims in Istanbul included a 32-year-old Guinean citizen who was trapped inside his basement apartment in the low-income Kucukcekmece district, Turkish broadcaster HaberTurk TV reported.

The other was a 57-year-old woman who died after being swept away by the floods in another neighbourhood, the private DHA news agency reported.

The surging flood waters affected more than 1,750 homes and businesses in the city, according to the Istanbul governor’s office. They included a line of shops in the Ikitelli district, where the deluge dragged parked vehicles and mud into furniture stores, destroying the merchandise, DHA reported.

A cyclist rides through floodwater blocking the road due to heavy rain in the Basaksehir district of Istanbul, Turkey (Khalil Hamra/AP)

The floods also engulfed a parking area for containers and trucks on the city’s outskirts where people found safety by climbing on to the roof of a restaurant, Turkish media reports said.

In Greece, a record rainfall caused at least two deaths near the central city of Volos and at least three people were reported missing. The fire department said one man was killed when a wall buckled and fell on him, and the body of a woman was discovered on Wednesday.

Authorities banned traffic in Volos, the nearby mountain region of Pilion and the resort island of Skiathos.

In Bulgaria, a storm caused floods on the country’s southern Black Sea coast, leaving two people dead. Three others were missing.

Floodwater in the town of Volos, central Greece (George Kidonas/InTime News/AP)

TV footage showed cars and camper vans being swept out to sea in the southern resort town of Tsarevo.

Authorities declared a state of emergency in the town and urged people to move upstairs as water swamped the ground floors of some hotels.