Floods in Black Sea region: Death toll rises to 57, hundreds still missing

Bozkurt, Kastamonu (Photos: AA)

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The death toll from floods in Turkey's Black Sea region has risen to 57, according to the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD).

At least 48 people lost their lives in Bozkurt, Kastamonu, where the Ezine Stream flooded after heavy rainfall. Eight others died in the Sinop province and one person in Bartın province, said the AFAD.

The color of Black Sea turned into brown due to the floods in Bozkurt.

The death toll in Bozkurt is expected to rise further as applications for 329 missing people were made to the AFAD, according to main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Engin Altay.

Visiting Bozkurt yesterday (August 13), Altay told reporters that the situation was much worse than what the authorities stated.

"The information that 329 applications were made to the AFAD for missing people was given to me," he said. "Dead bodies are collected from the shores. Turkey must know that."

The government has neither confirmed nor denied Altay's statement.

Locals speaking to the media were also of the opinion that the death toll was much higher than announced.

A person who volunteered in search and rescue efforts told KRT TV yesterday that the floods came so fast that people were not able to run. "Ten people from my family alone went adrift with the waters. They have died," he said.

The official toll was a "lie," he said. "I saw that they were out of body bags. They were bringing garbage bags."

Another resident of Bozkurt told Gazete Duvar news portal that the death toll was probably much higher. He, like many others, blamed the hydroelectric power plant and urban development in the stream bed.

"This state will never collapse"

Yesterday, President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited Bozkurt.

"We will do our best as a state as quickly as possible, and hopefully we will rise from our ashes again," he said during a speech at the funeral of people who died in the floods. "This state has never collapsed and will never collapse," he said.

The president was criticized on social media for "speaking as if the country was in a war."

Later in the day, Erdoğan announced that the places affected had been declared a disaster area.

These places will be able to defer tax dues and local tradespeople will be allowed to postpone payments to the country's Social Security Institution. Assistance will also be provided to cover property, vehicle, and workplace losses.

Businesses' loan repayments will also be postponed, with the state preparing an emergency support plan for disaster-hit areas. (RT/DŞ/VK)