VIDEO: Storm wreaks havoc in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

At least five people, including a child, have been injured after a scaffolding near the busy Taksim area crumbled on Sept. 23. AA Photo

Scaffolding at a construction site in Istanbul’s central Beyoğlu district collapsed in a storm that hit the city on Sept. 23, injuring five people, including a child.

“It felt like a tornado was coming. Then the scaffolding started to pour down like rain. It’s good that it fell down horizontally, not vertically on top of us,” said one taxi driver, whose car was hit by the collapsing scaffolding.

Doğan News Agency has published video footage of the incident, which also badly damaged two cars in the area.

Meanwhile, wooden boards at another constructions site in the Merter district were dislodged and flew around dangerously in the same storm. A road in the area was temporarily closed after several cars were hit, but luckily nobody was injured.

Safety measures in Turkey’s booming construction industry have recently become a source of controversy. Ten workers were killed at a construction site in Istanbul when an elevator carrying them suddenly plunged to the ground from the 32th floor of a new building late on Sept. 6.