Since the earthquake around five weeks ago, hundreds of thousands of people in south-east Turkey have been homeless and living in makeshift tents. At least 14 people have died in flooding after exceptionally heavy rain. Five people were still missing on Wednesday, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said.
Twelve people were killed in the province bordering on Syria and the capital of the same name, Şanlıurfa, and rescue operations were under way, provincial governor Salih Ayhan told the state broadcaster TRT Haber. Authorities fear the death toll could continue to rise, Ayhan said. The governor called on residents to remain in their homes or to go to safe areas if necessary. Schools were closed for a day.
In Şanlıurfa in south-eastern Turkey, the streets are flooded after heavy rains.
(Photo: -/AFP)
According to the DHA news agency, the emergency room of a hospital was also flooded in Şanlıurfa. The patients were brought to safety. A report by broadcaster Habertürk showed how local residents rescued a man and a child with a rope from a flooded street in the city of Şanlıurfa. According to the Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, in the neighboring province of Adıyaman, in the district of Tut, about 100 kilometers further north, a container house in which a family was housed was washed away. One person died as a result.
Soylu called on Adıyaman residents to stay away from river beds. Already the day before, heavy rain had caused problems for the people in the earthquake region. More than 48,000 people died in the earthquake on February 6 and many aftershocks in Turkey alone.
Water entered tents in İskenderun, Hatay province. As footage from a television broadcaster showed, the masses of water swept away cars and damaged roads and bridges. People swim to safety. For the next two days, the Turkish civil protection authority expects further heavy rains in the region and warns residents of further storms and floods.