ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Floods attributable to torrential rains hit two Turkish provinces that have been devastated by final month’s catastrophic earthquake, killing at the very least 14 individuals and growing the distress for 1000’s who have been left homeless, officers stated Wednesday.
Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu stated rescue groups have been nonetheless trying to find 5 individuals reported lacking in three areas, after the flash floods turned streets in Adiyaman and Sanliurfa provinces into rivers, swept away vehicles, inundated houses and drenched campsites sheltering earthquake survivors.
At least 12 individuals have been killed in Sanliurfa, together with 5 Syrian nationals whose our bodies have been discovered inside a flooded basement condo and two different individuals who died inside a van that was trapped at an underpass.
In Adiyaman, two individuals drowned after surging waters swept away a container dwelling sheltering a household of earthquake survivors.
Television footage from Sanliurfa confirmed flood waters surging alongside a road and sweeping away vehicles and particles. Rescuers, utilizing a rope, have been seen lifting a person to security from the inundated underpass. Elsewhere, one other particular person was pulled out of the floodwaters by individuals who dangled a twisted sheet from the window of a constructing.
“When I woke up, our houses were under water,” Melek Yildirim advised the state-run Anadolu Agency after being evacuated from an inundated road in Sanliurfa by boat. “The situation is miserable.”
Yildirim stated: “We’ve even forgotten about the earthquake. We’ve forgotten everything. Household goods, even cars were in the water. May God not allow us to live through this again.”
Several individuals have been evacuated from camps the place earthquake survivors have been sheltering in tents. Patients have been additionally evacuated from the intensive care unit of a hospital in Sanliurfa, HaberTurk reported.
The raging waters triggered a part of a freeway within the area to break down.
Turkey’s catastrophe administration company stated greater than a dozen skilled divers have been concerned within the rescue efforts in every of the 2 provinces.
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck components of Turkey and Syria on Feb. 6, killing greater than 52,000 individuals — the overwhelming majority in Turkey. More than 200,000 buildings in Turkey both collapsed or have been severely broken.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”