Rescue workers retrieved 11 bodies from mud in northern Turkey today, bringing to 30 the known death toll in floods that have wreaked havoc in the country, the Anatolia news agency reported.
The toll in the floods, which also claimed lives in central and eastern Turkey earlier in the week, was likely to reach 40.
The latest victims, among them two children, were pulled from the debris of a building razed by a landslide in the small village of Selamet in the mountainous Black Sea province of Rize, the worst-hit region.
They brought to 23 the number of casualties in the province.
Deputy Prime Minister Mr Mesut Yilmaz, who visited the area today, said the death toll in the region was set to exceed 30, because "we have lost hope" for missing people.
The floods have claimed seven other lives in nearby regions and the eastern province of Kars since heavy rainfall first struck late on Monday.
In Rize province alone, some 20 buildings collapsed and 200 houses were evacuated after being hit by the floods, which also destroyed hectares of farmland in the region where locals depend mainly on growing tea for their livelihood, governor Mr Bulent Karacol told NTV televison.
Landslides and rain, which continued sporadically, obstructed the work of earth-moving machines trying to open dozens of blocked roads.
About 75 villages remained cut off, while 15 were without electricity and 35 without telephone services, the governor said.
The Turkish cabinet decided yesterday to send emergency aid to the affected provinces.
Meteorologists have said that the rains are expected to continue on Friday in the north and east of the country.
AFP