At least 13 people died Wednesday in floods in two provinces in southeastern Turkey already hit by the devastating Feb. 6 earthquake, adding to the plight of survivors.
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Twelve people died in the city of Sanliurfa, including five Syrians found dead in the basement of a building, and two others died in the neighboring province of Adiyaman, including a one-and-a-half-year-old baby, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu reported.
Five people are missing.
More than 160 rescuers and divers have been dispatched to the area, he said.
According to the Sanliurfa governorate and images broadcast by private channel NTV, the torrential rains also hit the ground floor of one of the province’s main hospitals, including an intensive care unit, forcing doctors to transfer patients.
Pictures taken on Wednesday showed the avenues of Sanliurfa, a major city 50 kilometers as the crow flies from the Syrian border, which have turned into brownish streams of cars and trucks.
A video shot in Malatya province, which is adjacent to Adiyaman, also showed the water level rising around white tents where earthquake survivors are refugees.
The Feb. 6 quake killed nearly 48,500 people and affected 13.5 million people, or nearly a sixth of Turkey’s population, according to the authorities’ latest report.
In the election campaign for his re-election on May 14, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was again on Sunday in the earthquake area he frequently visits, promised on Wednesday to build 650,000 homes in the provinces hit by the earthquake as soon as possible.
“In addition to the relief efforts, emergency relief and shelters we have provided so far, we pledge our nation to rebuild the cities devastated by the earthquake within a year,” he said in a speech to his party lawmakers, reaffirming a pledge that he had already made the aftermath of the disaster.