Flights partially resume at Istanbul's airport after storm

Reuters
A Turkish Airlines plane sits at the tarmac at Ataturk International Airport in Istanbul May 15, 2013. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Flights at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport, Turkey's largest by passenger numbers, partially resumed on Thursday afternoon after being suspended for about an hour due to a storm, an official at the state airports authority said. Istanbul and Turkey's western coast including the coastal hub of Izmir suffered heavy rain, snarling traffic and damaging the basements of some buildings. Earlier on Thursday, a 16-year-old boy drowned in the western city of Izmir after being dragged along the street by flood water, local media said. (Writing by Ece Toksabay; Editing by Humeyra Pamuk and Alison Williams)