A river swollen by heavy rain swept away a car with three people in Istanbul's Pendik district, and two of them are missing. One passenger got out on his own, said Ahmet Özyurt, the mukhtar (local head) of Kadıllı neighbourhood in Gebze. The car was carried off in the Göçbeyli neighbourhood.

The rain began in the evening and grew heavier overnight. The Büyük Dere river, also known as Göçbeyli Dere, rose and burst its banks. It runs through the neighbourhood, and the incident happened between Kadıllı and Göçbeyli.

Özyurt said the water dragged the car, which has the licence plate 34 HER 50, about 100 or 150 metres before the passengers got out. The survivor said they broke the window after the car was swept along and climbed out. He then grabbed a branch and pulled himself out of the water.

People nearby took him to safety, and an ambulance drove him to hospital. The mukhtar said the survivor, identified by the initials M.D.E., has minor injuries and is in good condition. The current took D.A. and F.D.

After the alert about the two missing people, underwater search and rescue teams (SAK), AKUT, AFAD, firefighters and the gendarmerie went to the scene. The spot lies on the border between Istanbul and Kocaeli provinces, so rescuers from the Gebze (GEAK) and Çayırova (ÇAK) municipalities joined in as well.

Teams are searching at three places at once, because the two people and the car may have been carried downstream. Özyurt said they are carrying on despite the bad weather.

"The river's flow is very high," the mukhtar told reporters. Its waters run towards the Yomerli dam.

The teams also searched with a drone. "The teams brought a drone and searched, but so far there is no progress," Özyurt said.