DUSHANBE, September 11, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- President Emomali Rahmon yesterday sent a telegram of condolences to his Turkish counterpart, President Abdullah Gul, over recent huge floods, according to presidential press service.

Tajik president also asked to convey his deep condolences to the families and relatives of the flood victims.

International media report the death toll following huge floods that swept through Istanbul and north-western Turkey on September 8-10, has risen to at least 31 people, with others still missing.  

Authorities have begun the clear-up, while teams are still searching for the missing, after what the prime minister called the "disaster of the century".  The rain - described as the heaviest in 80 years - has abated, but more is expected in the coming days.

Thirteen truck drivers were reported to have been killed as a sudden tide of water and mud swept through the lorry park where they were sleeping.  A family of five - a man, his wife and three daughters - were all found dead in the mud that swept through their farm in Tekirdag, outside Istanbul.  Meanwhile a minibus in Bagcilar, a working-class suburb of Istanbul, was found to contain the bodies of seven women drowned as they travelled to work at a textile factory.

The flooding came suddenly following very heavy rain on Tuesday and overnight into Wednesday.  The worst flooding was in low-lying areas in the western (European) part of the city straddling the Bosphorus Strait, which divides Europe from Asia.