Flood claims eight lives in Black Sea province

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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The death toll from flooding in Turkey's Black Sea province of Giresun rose to eight as of 5 p.m. today (August 24), as announced by Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu. The search and rescue operations for eight missing people are reportedly still underway in the region.

"We have recovered another body of a gendarmerie officer," said Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu yesterday, bringing the death toll to six. Earlier today, he then announced that the body of one more gendarmerie officer was recovered during the search and rescue efforts.

AFAD: 157 people rescued so far

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) announced that 157 people have been rescued so far. Some 988 personnel and 288 vehicles were deployed in the rescue efforts, AFAD said in a statement.

It said that the roads to 118 villages had been closed, with 35 having been reopened so far. Power had also been restored to 53 residential areas out of 78 where there had been outages due to the floods.

Meanwhile, 9 million Turkish liras ($1.23 million) were sent to the region to help with its recovery. Earlier, President and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated that as many as 12 people had been injured due to the heavy flooding. Erdoğan also offered his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives.

Soylu: 11 people were reported missing

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, who had arrived at the scene, said earlier that five gendarmerie officers and an excavator operator went missing after a 5-meter high culvert collapsed due to floods in the region.

Soylu said that 11 people were reported missing.

The floodwaters demolished 17 buildings and slightly damaged 361, said Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum at the scene.

Making a statement about the flood, Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli also said that damage assessments were underway and farmland suffered less damage than initially estimated.

Efforts continued to rescue people at a wedding hall in Dereli district and guests were being transported to a safe location.

Minister warned about more rainfall

Referring to information received from the state meteorology authority, he said that rains, which started on August 22, reached 137 kilograms of density and affected a number of districts. He warned that 50 to 100 kilograms of rainfall is expected in Çanakçı, Görele and Doğankent districts yesterday.

Earlier, Giresun's Governor Enver Unlu told AA that a number of stranded people were been identified and several people were rescued by teams.

He said that efforts to get to the stranded would begin at first light in the morning and crews were working on opening access to roads while vehicles and heavy equipment were waiting for waters to recede before entering. 

Flood waters caused vehicles in Dereli to drift and buildings were also destroyed in the area, while security forces were trying to confirm reports about missing persons, he said.

AFAD announced that rescue teams were dispatched to Giresun during the initial minutes of the natural disaster. (RT/SD)