Istanbul roads gridlocked due to rainfall

ISTANBUL-Anadolu Agency

Commuters in Istanbul had to face a lot of hassle to return home in the evening of Oct. 31 due to rain.

The density scale of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality’s online traffic map hit 78 percent, showing that flow on some of the main roads came to a standstill.

The rain clouds covered the metropolis starting from the northern and western districts of Çatalca, Arnavutköy, Eyüp, Sarıyer and Beykoz, according to the municipality.

Cırcır Stream in the Black Sea district of Sarıyer flooded some roads and blocked the traffic.

In Pendik district on the Asian side, a public bus got out of control and hit a tree on the roadside, luckily injuring nobody.

In the early hours of Nov. 1, a police car was overturned in an accident on the European Motorway, which is one of the two most congested roads in Istanbul and is a part of the Trans-European Motorway.

The traffic flow to Istanbul’s old city and coach station was blocked for a short while and a police officer was hospitalized due to slight injuries.

Meanwhile, the General Directorate of Meteorology on Nov. 1 issued a snowstorm warning for northeastern provinces of Erzincan, Erzurum, Kars and Ardahan.