Authorities closed Istanbul's famed waterway, the Bosporus, to maritime traffic Thursday to find a young man who has been missing since July 15. Furkan Yıldırım, 17, went for a swim in the Bosporus near the Arnavutköy coast on city's European side when he got caught in a current. Search and rescue efforts have been underway since he disappeared.

A naval ship used for search and rescue and police have combed the waterway for Yıldırım. His uncle, Mehmet Yıldırım, told reporters that authorities brought in a ship equipped with an underwater search robot and hoped to find the young man's body. "His family has slept in tents they erected on the coast since he went missing. We are all devastated," the uncle said.

Bosporus was reopened to maritime traffic later yesterday after search and rescue crews could not find any trace of the missing man.