Body of missing person found, search for others continues
ADIYAMAN / ŞANLIURFA
Death toll rises to 19 in the floods that hit the southern provinces of Şanlıurfa and Adıyaman, as search and rescue teams reached the body of one of the missing persons on March 20.
In Adıyaman’s Tut district, the lifeless body of nurse Fatma Tekdal was found on the sixth day of the search efforts, while the operations continue to find her daughter, Zeynep Zümra Tekdal.
The body was found near the Boydere village, eight kilometers away from where she was last seen.
It was reported that Tekdal is in the second month of her pregnancy.
Search and rescue teams are carrying out works to find truck driver Emin Ergün in Şanlıurfa.
Some 90 personnel and two helicopters participated in search efforts near the Yalıntaş neighborhood where Ergün was last seen.
In the southeastern province of Mardin, another city affected by heavy rains, 11-year-old Fatma Sezer lost her balance and fell into the Cırcıp Stream as the water flow increased due to the torrential rains.
Upon notifications, teams immediately started a search and rescue operation for the girl, and the efforts are ongoing.
However, Sezer could not be reached during the two-day work of the teams.
It was learned that the teams also consider the possibility of that Sezer might have drifted to Syria through the stream.
Cleaning and water removal efforts are ongoing with 9,622 personnel and 1,687 vehicles, as damage assessment studies have been initiated in Şanlıurfa, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu stated.
As a result of initial determination, 3,154 people whose houses or workplaces were severely damaged were affected by the floods, Soylu said.
The flood came about 40 days after the Feb. 6 earthquakes, which claimed the lives of more than 48,000 people and left thousands of others homeless.
