Massive flooding kills at least 11 in Iran

Heavy downpours have caused flooding in several Iranian provinces, mainly in the southern parts of the country, killing at least 11 people and leaving two others missing.

A spokesman for Iran’s emergency services Mojtaba Khaledi said on Monday that over 17 people have also been injured by the flooding in the provinces of Hormozgan, Bushehr, Fars, Sistan and Baluchestan, Qom, Gilan, South Khorasan, Mazandaran, Semnan, and Kerman.

The floods have also caused significant property damage to many urban and rural areas and blocked many roads.

The Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), emergency workers and other organizations have been dispatched to the flood-hit areas and are carrying out rescue and relief operations.

Heavy rainfalls forced the authorities in a number of cities to declare a state of emergency and order the evacuation of people from residential areas. Forecasters have warned about more rains for the coming days.

In January, severe rainfall and flooding blocked roads, destroyed houses and displaced hundreds of people in the provinces of Kerman, Sistan, and Baluchestan as well as Hormozgan.

Flooding has also blocked rural roads linking more than 500 villages.