At least one person killed as storm pounds Istanbul

A powerful storm pounded Istanbul and other parts of Turkey on Monday, killing at least one person and causing havoc in the city of around 15 million people, reports said.

A woman was killed in Istanbul's Esenyurt district where strong gusts tore off part of a roof which landed on top of her and her child, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The child survived with injuries.

Elsewhere in the city, the gusts knocked down a clock tower, uprooted trees and caused at least three trucks to overturn, private NTV television reported.

At least eight people were injured.

The Bosporus, the narrow waterway that bisects the city, was also closed to maritime traffic and ferry services were cancelled.

At least six Turkish Airlines flights scheduled to land in Istanbul were diverted to the cities of Ankara and Izmir, an airline spokesman said.

The strong winds also forced authorities to cancel ferry services between the coastal resorts of Bodrum and Kas, the private DHA news agency reported.