More Than 20 Killed in Flash Floods Southern Iran (Video)

Flash floods in Iran’s drought-stricken southern Fars province left at least 21 people dead, state television announced on Saturday.

"Twenty-one people were killed and two are still missing," in the floods that affected several towns in and around Estahban county in the southern province of Fars, Hossein Darvishi, provincial head of the Red Crescent Society, was quoted as saying by state TV.

https://twitter.com/IranNW/status/1550747813675298817

Heavy rains swelled the Roudbal river by the city of Estahban, according to the city’s governor Yousef Karegar.

Karegar said rescue teams saved around 55 people who were trapped by the flash flooding, adding that at least six people were still missing.

Previously, Iran’s metrology department warned about possibly heavy seasonal rainfall and floods across the country that is facing a decades-long drought blamed on climate change.

Earlier this month, at least five people were killed and 50 others injured following a string of earthquakes in southern Iran, the FARS news agency reported.

Four separate earthquakes were registered near the southern port city of Bandar-e Lengeh, including a 6.1 magnitude quake, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) website.

Twelve villages in the surrounding Hormozgan province were damaged, according to FARS.

The village of Sayehkhosh, where many houses were destroyed, was the most damaged due to the earthquake, Iranian state media outlet IRNA reported, citing local officials. Authorities also pointed out that five villages lost power due to the quakes.

“Currently, 75 rescue-operational forces and emergency teams are present in the earthquake-affected areas with the use of 12 operational vehicles,” Iran’s Red Crescent Society said on Twitter.