Foreign

AT least five people died and 10 others missing after massive flash floods struck South-Eastern Turkey, state media reports said on Wednesday.

Four people died in Şanlıurfa province along the Syrian border while another person died in Adıyaman province, some 110 kilometres to the north.

“Four of our citizens died, rescue efforts are underway, including in rural areas,’’ Şanlıurfa Gov. Salih Ayhan told state broadcaster, TRT Haber.

Authorities fear the death toll may increase, Gov. Ayhan said, citing extraordinary rainfall.

In Adıyaman, flood water swept away a container house, sheltering a family, in Adıyaman’s Tut district, killing one person, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu told reporters in Adıyaman.

He warned locals to stay away from riverbeds.

Four people in the container home are missing, TRT Haber said.

The region was already hit by a devastating earthquake last month, killing nearly 48,000 people and forcing around two million to evacuate to temporary shelters such as tents and containers.

Floods swept away several cars, and damaged roads and bridges, footage from broadcaster Haber Global showed.

A man and a child were being rescued by locals holding on to a rope on an avenue in central Şanlıurfa, broadcaster HaberTürk showed.

Another man was seen swimming to safety from a flooded underpass in Şanlıurfa.

The intensive care unit of a hospital in Şanlıurfa province was flooded, forcing patients to evacuate.

Schools were closed in Şanlıurfa, where residential homes were also flooded and authorities urged locals to evacuate to safer areas.

Further to the South in Hatay province’s İskenderun district, water-flooded tents were sheltering quake survivors.

Heavy rain is expected for the next two days, disaster authority, AFAD said, warning locals to beware of ensuing storms and floods. (dpa/NAN)

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Tags: Gov. Salih Ayhan Süleyman Soylu