Death toll in Turkey flash floods rises to 62

The death toll from severe floods and mudslides in Turkey’s Black Sea region has risen to 62, Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) said on Sunday.

According to Xinhua, floods caused by heavy rains in the northern Black Sea region on Wednesday killed 52 people in Kastamonu province. Nine people died in Sinop province and one in Bartın Province.

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said Saturday that rescue efforts are continuing in the three provinces, where 77 people are still missing.

Torrential rains in the Black Sea coastal provinces of Bartin, Kastamonu, Sinop and Samsun on Wednesday caused flooding and mudslides that destroyed homes and buildings, prompting more than 1,700 people to be evacuated across the region.

Turkey is fighting disasters on two fronts, with the country newly in control of forest fires that have killed eight people and destroyed large areas of the forest on the country’s southwestern and southern coasts.

E.M