The number of people who lost their lives in recent flash floods in the earthquake-torn provinces of Şanlıurfa and Adıyaman has risen to 18, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said Friday.
The minister confirmed that 16 people have died in Şanlıurfa and two in Adıyaman.
Soylu said that one more person, who was injured and treated at the intensive care unit of the hospital, succumbed to their injuries. Thus, the number of people who lost their lives in the flood disaster in the city with a population of more than 2 million rose to 16. He added that the search for one more missing person continues.
The mayor of Şanlırfa, Salih Ayhan noted in his interview with Demirören News Agency (DHA) that post-flood sludge cleaning is underway at 11 locations in the city.
After heavy rainfall between March 14-15, the water supply in the city was cut off when floodwater entered supply canals. Citizens, who could not find drinking water, are being supplied with water via tankers. Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, however, stated that the drinking water supply in Şanlıurfa is expected to resume on Saturday morning.
The flood, which hit some 40 days after the disastrous Feb. 6 earthquakes that leveled hundreds of thousands of buildings and left over 48,000 people dead, marked another natural disaster in the region that officials in Şanlıurfa are referring to as the worst flood in the last 65 years.
