Devastating floods have hit two Turkish provinces that were ravaged by last month’s catastrophic earthquake killing at least 14 people including Syrians.
Rescue teams were still searching for five people reported missing in three locations, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said.
Soylu said 12 people were killed by the floods in the southeastern Sanliurfa province while two others died in the neighbouring Adiyaman province.
In Adiyaman, victims drowned after surging waters swept away a container home sheltering a family of earthquake survivors, HaberTurk television reported.
The victims in Sanliurfa included five Syrian nationals whose bodies were found inside a flooded basement apartment and two other people who died inside a van that was trapped at an underpass.
Several people were evacuated from a drenched camp where earthquake survivors were sheltering in tents. Patients were also evacuated from a hospital, HaberTurk reported.
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 natural disaster tragedy comes in the wake of twin earthquakes that struck parts of Turkey and Syria on February 6, killing more than 52,000 people — the vast majority in Turkey. More than 200,000 buildings in Turkey either collapsed or were severely damaged.
Shocking footage of the surging water showed helpless victims being dragged away as cars were carried by the water down roads that had turned to streams.
The heavy rain in Şanlıurfa has turned some parts of the city, Balıklıgöl and Abide Köprülü Junction, into a river.
Şanlıurfa Governor Salih Ayhan, said to CNN TÜRK: "We are fighting a very intense struggle. My biggest wish is that my citizens do not go out too much, those on the banks of the streams should definitely get away from there.
"Şanlıurfa has never seen such a flood in its history. There are warnings, our divers are intervening. I hope there will be no trouble. Most importantly, we are evacuating our hospital, we have 200 patients, we are evacuating to other hospitals."
While CNN TÜRK Meteorology Advisor Professor Dr Orhan Şen said: "Heavy rain will continue in this region until the night. This precipitation is coming to us from Syria.
"There is dust in this rain which increases the amount of precipitation. Today's rain is strong with the effect of dust. This is not normal precipitation. This is not normal, but it can happen again. The incidence has increased due to global warming."
