After a series of earthquakes in February, North Kurdistan was hit by heavy floods after heavy rainfall since Tuesday.

According to latest reports, floods have claimed the lives of 12 people in Urfa and 2 in Adıyaman, where four people were reported missing.

In the district of Tut in the province of Adiyaman, which was largely destroyed by the 6 February earthquake, the floods swept away a residential container. At least one person was killed, and four others were reported missing. The container was located in a garden and was inhabited by earthquake victims.

In Doğanşehir district of Malatya, tents inhabited by earthquake victims were washed over.

Flash floods also occurred in the province of Urfa. The water entered homes, shops and public buildings and flooded roads, bridges and tunnels. Also affected is the 150-metre-long Abide tunnel in Haliliye, which was inaugurated by AKP leader Tayyip Erdogan only three months ago as a major service to the population. At least six people, including firefighters, were in the tunnel, which was flooded by muddy water, and were swept away by the floodwaters during a rescue operation. One person rescued himself by swimming out of the tunnel. Rescue divers have since been deployed to the tunnel which connects the motorway between Urfa and Antep.

The intensive care unit in the basement of the Eyyübiye Training and Research Hospital in Urfa was also flooded. The patients were transferred to surrounding hospitals. The Archaeological Museum also suffered water damage.

The mayor of Urfa, Zeynel Abidin Beyazgül of the ruling AKP, was met with boos from an angry crowd as he inspected the rescue work. The anger increased when information spread that a bodyguard of the AKP politician pointed his gun at the protesting crowd. Bayazgül was taken to his car under police protection and had to leave the place.