Five children among seven dead in eastern Syria floods

Oct 30 (Reuters) – Seven people, including five children, have died and seven others were injured after torrential rains triggered flash floods in eastern Syria, authorities said on Friday.

Four people remain missing and rescue teams are continuing to search flooded areas, Emergency and Disaster Management Minister Raed al-Saleh said in a statement on X.

The five children drowned in pools of water formed by the floods, while another person died in a traffic accident, Saleh said, without providing details of the seventh death.

Flooding has hit the eastern provinces of Raqqa, Deir al-Zor and Hasakah, as well as parts of Aleppo, damaging infrastructure, cutting off roads and forcing families to leave their homes.

Syria’s civil defence teams have carried out more than 550 emergency operations since the storms began, rescuing 60 people trapped by floodwater and responding to more than 900 distress calls, Saleh said.

Emergency crews evacuated more than 350 students from two schools and helped 375 families leave camps in Raqqa province. Teams also responded to flooding at camps in rural Aleppo and Idlib, and pumped water from around 250 homes and public buildings.

In Deir al-Zor, the floods damaged roads and telecommunications infrastructure, disrupting transport and communications, state news agency SANA reported. Heavy rainfall also caused seven culverts to collapse, cutting off access to several areas.

Authorities suspended classes in Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir al-Zor on Thursday, while forecasters warned unsettled weather could continue into Saturday.

(Reporting by Feras Dalatey;Editing by Ros Russell)

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