Floods in Turkey kill 13 people in earthquake-affected provinces

Floods caused by torrential rains have hit two Turkish provinces that were devastated by last month’s earthquakes, killing at least 13 people and increasing the misery of thousands who were left homeless, officials say.

Turkish media said the floods on Wednesday killed 11 people in Sanliurfa, about 50km (30 miles) north of the Syrian border. Two people also died in nearby Adiyaman, including a one-year-old, the reports said.

A number of other people were reported missing.

The two people died in Adiyaman when surging waters swept away a container home in the town of Tut where a group of earthquake survivors was living, Governor Numan Hatipoglu said. Four people were reported missing.

Rescuers found the bodies of five Syrian nationals inside a flooded basement apartment in neighbouring Sanliurfa province and retrieved two other bodies inside a van that was trapped at an underpass.

Four other people were killed and two firefighters were reported missing, Sanliurfa Governor Salih Ayhan told HaberTurk television.

Several people were evacuated from a drenched campsite where earthquake survivors were sheltering in tents. Patients were also evacuated from a hospital, HaberTurk reported.

Television footage from Sanliurfa showed floodwaters surging along a street and sweeping away cars.

Turkey’s disaster management agency said more than a dozen professional divers were involved in the rescue efforts in each of the two provinces.

The powerful earthquakes that struck parts of Turkey and Syria on February 6 killed more than 52,000 people, the vast majority in Turkey.

More than 200,000 buildings in Turkey either collapsed or were severely damaged.