Government under fire

Turkey's government came under fire yesterday over ramshackle planning in Istanbul, a day after killer floods swept away cars and bridges in what the prime minister called the "disaster of the century".

With the death toll from the flash floods rising to 32, authorities launched a massive rescue and clean-up operation while the waters receded.

Tragic stories came out of the hunt for the eight people reported missing in the floods that left many stranded in apartments and some in trees and on car roofs.

The latest body to be recovered was of a man whose wife and three daughters were also killed when the deluge swept through their farm Tuesday in the province of Tekirdag, to the west of Istanbul, the Anatolia news agency said.

His body was found buried under a pile of mud 500 metres from the farm. A fourth daughter, aged eight, was among the missing, but authorities have expressed little hope of finding her alive.

At least 26 of the dead were in Istanbul, a metropolis of more than 12 million people where mass emigration has led to rapid growth with poor planning and inadequate structure.

As the press pointed an accusing finger at authorities for allowing wildcat planning, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a former mayor of Istanbul, promised action to strengthen river banks when he went to the city on Wednesday night.

"If we build buildings on river-beds, if we extend this type of construction, let's not forget that... the river's revenge can be terrible," Erdogan said.

Transport Minister Binali Yil-dirim also conceeded that "sub-standard practices" in the urbanization of Istanbul were partly to blame for the tragedy.