ISTANBUL (Al Jazeera) – Turkish authorities in Istanbul dispatched troops to clear highways and ordered military helicopters to shuttle the sick to hospital, as the country’s largest city was blanketed in unusually heavy snow that brought transport to a nearly complete standstill.
A ban on motorcycles and private vehicles came into effect on Tuesday morning following the snowfall the night before. Schools and shopping centers were also shut as the public was urged to stay home amid warnings of more freezing weather in the coming days.
“The main issue is that our citizens not go outside as much as they can in these stormy conditions,” said Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu. “We have areas where the snow has reached 80 centimeters (2.6 feet), and in most of the city the snow range has been 30 – 50 centimeters (1-1.5 feet),” Imamoglu added.
Istanbul’s major roads, including the northern highway connecting to the main international airport, as well as the E-5 highway running east-west through the city, and routes to the capital, Ankara, were closed overnight. Authorities said thousands of motorists were left stranded on highways, with snowfall quickly picking up at rush hour as commuters were returning home. Istanbul’s governor said 71 mosques had been opened to provide shelter for those stranded on roads in the city.
“We have gone through a very tough night, and unfortunately, because of heavy snow and cold weather, people were stuck on highways,” Adil Karaismailoglu, minister of transport and infrastructure, said in a news conference in Istanbul on Tuesday afternoon. Karaismailoglu said many cars had been abandoned by drivers on highways and work was being done to clear them.
The bad weather on Monday also prompted the suspension of flights out of the city’s airport, one of the world’s busiest, as authorities sought to clear runways to get hundreds of stranded flights back on schedule.
While one runway was later opened to handle flights that had been diverted because of the snowfall, Turkish Airlines said its flights would not resume until at least midnight on Tuesday.