At least 23 people were killed when floods swept the Turkish city of Istanbul, swamping houses, turning highways into fast-flowing rivers and drowning seven women in a minibus that was taking them to work.

Military helicopters hovered over districts on the European side of Turkey's largest city on Wednesday after two days of the heaviest rain in 80 years. Rescue workers put out planks and ladders to help car and truck drivers, stranded in fast-flowing waters, reach the safety of bridges and high land.

CNN Turk television showed scenes of white blankets covering the bodies of people found in the western Halkali neighbourhood near Ataturk International airport. Airport officials said there was no disruption to flights.

"My friend got stuck in the truck after the water rose all at once. The vehicle stopped working after filling with water. We rescued him with a winch," Kamil Coskun told in the Ikitelli district.

Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler told a news conference at least 23 people had been killed over two days. Eight were still missing.

Istanbul's ancient district of Sultanahmet, with its mosques, the palaces of the waterfront and Beyoglu's area of narrow streets were largely unaffected.
In the Ikitelli commercial district, residents scrambled for office equipment amid debris. In other parts of the city, people waded chest-high through swamped highways.

Insurance company Axa Sigorta Deputy General Manager Ali Erlat said damage from the floods could total $70 million-$80 million, Anatolian reported.

WORST IN 80 YEARS

Ali Erdem, chief analyst at the Istanbul Meteorology Department, told Tuesday's rainfall was the heaviest recorded in the last 80 years.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, a native of Istanbul, was due to travel to the city on Wednesday.

The bodies of seven women were discovered in Bagcilar, a working-class suburb of Istanbul, on Wednesday. They had drowned in a minibus that was taking them to jobs at a textile factory, Anatolian news agency said.

The worst of the flooding was in low-lying areas in the west of the city, on the European side, where drainage is often poor.

Istanbul is situated on the steep banks of the Bosphorus strait, which divides Europe from Asia and is one of the world's busiest waterways -- a major conduit for cargo ships and oil tankers passing between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.

Elsewhere in northwest Turkey, two bridges were demolished by floodwaters on the Bahcekoy-Saray highway.

Istanbul authorities have, in their disaster planning, been more occupied with provision for earthquakes in a city crossed by a major faultline. Eighteen thousands people were killed by a quake that hit northwest Turkey in 1999.