April 21, 2017
Floods and mudslides caused by torrential rains and deforestation have killed 48 people in five northwestern provinces.
The heavy rainfall began Friday and quickly produced raging torrents of water. Flooding is normal is the spring, but in recent decades the floods have often been preceded by walls of water as the deforestation of hillsides means the rain water is not soaked up in the earth.
The
provinces hit were East and West Azerbaijan, Ardebil, Zanjan and Kurdistan.
Most of the dead were in two towns in East Azerbaijan province. In Chenar, at least 20 people were killed, mostly residents of a dozen houses collapsed and washed away by the raging waters. Another 22 were in Azarshahr, most of them in seven cars that were swept away by the floodwaters.
Another four people died in a mudslide in Saqqez in Kurdistan, while one person was reported drowned in Nanoor in Kurdistan and another in West Azerbaijan.
Television footage showed rivers rising over their banks, streets under water and cars being swept away like toys. A 12-year-old boy riding his bike was also carried off by the water.
