There are many people missing, leading to fears that the death toll will rise significantly.
At least 6 people died today from the floods that hit areas near Tehran, it became known from official sources. However, many people remain unaccounted for, leading to fears that the death toll will rise significantly.
“So far, five people have died and nine have been injured by the floods in the village of Emamzadeh Davud,” west of Tehran, Iranian Red Crescent chief Pirhossein Kolivad told state television.
The heavy rains caused landslides in that village, where a number of cars got stuck in the mud, according to Kolivad.
The search for missing persons continues in Tehran province, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi also noted on state television.
Meanwhile, in Damavad, east of the capital, the body of a person who died in the floods was found by a team of the city’s crisis response unit, the official Iranian news agency Irna reported.
Iran faces frequent droughts in the current decade, but also floods due to torrential rains.
Images posted on social media show a teenager covered in mud, chained to a pillar in the middle of a flooded road in Emamzadeh Dawood. A nearby wall collapses a few minutes later.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raishi has instructed the governor of Tehran to take the necessary measures to prevent unfortunate incidents, according to an official statement.
On Saturday, local media reported that 22 people had died in floods in Fars province in southern Iran. In January another 8 people had lost their lives in the same area, which is particularly exposed to floods.
In 2019, heavy rains in southern Iran had killed at least 76 people and caused more than $2 billion in damage.
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