Istanbul flood reports diverge as heavy rain returns Saturday

 *AI-generated conceptual illustration; it is not a photograph of the flood scene.* The Oct. 14 downpour flooded homes, businesses, roads and underpasses across Istanbul, sweeping vehicles into streets and disrupting transport. Rescuers found the body of 66-year-old Turgut Dursun beneath a bridge in Sariyer on Friday, Oct. 16. [The Associated Press now reports four deaths](https://apnews.com/article/b14a013cc2ad5cd767eb08c2ebf01a50), up from three in its previous dispatch. The total is not fully reconciled across reports. AP said Interior Minister Mustafa Ciftci had reported four people missing before Dursun was found, but its latest story does not give a revised missing-person count. Separately, Turkish outlet [Bianet reported](https://bianet.org/haber/death-toll-from-istanbul-floods-rises-to-five-several-others-reported-missing-324481) that a construction worker died while draining floodwater at a school site in Beykoz on Thursday. The accounts do not establish whether that worker is included in AP’s four-death toll, so a final combined count remains unclear. [DHA reported](https://www.dha.com.tr/gundem/ayazaga-deresinde-arama-calismasi-suruyor-2964118) that searches in Ayazaga were continuing Friday. Ciftci described the disaster as the country’s worst flood since 1942, a characterization attributed to the minister. He said authorities had received 9,850 flood-related damage and assistance reports and mobilized 46,000 personnel in Istanbul. The Turkish General Directorate of Meteorology’s [warning, issued Thursday](https://www.mgm.gov.tr/tahmin/uyari-goster.aspx?sN=26010518y), forecasts heavy rain across Istanbul on Saturday, Oct. 17, and warns of renewed flooding, landslides, lightning and transport disruption while damage from Wednesday’s storm is still being dealt with. That leaves residents and emergency crews facing another round of risk before search operations and cleanup have concluded. ~worldnews ~turkey ~istanbul ~flooding