Floods kill at least 22 in southern Iran, rescuers search for survivors after strong quakes

At least 22 people were killed in flash floods caused by heavy rains in Iran’s southern province of Fars, while two strong earthquakes on Saturday struck the southern Hormozgan province on the Gulf, prompting authorities to deploy search and rescue teams to the affected areas.

There was at least one person missing, said Khalil Abdollahi, head of the province’s crisis management department, quoted by the semi-official news agency Tasnim.

He said 55 people had been rescued in the flood which submerged 15 cars.

The governor of Fars province declared Sunday a day of mourning, state media said.

Meanwhile in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province on the Gulf, two strong earthquakes struck prompting authorities to deploy search and rescue teams to the affected areas, an official said.

“We have not received any report of serious damage yet. But large areas have been struck by these earthquakes and the evaluation work continues,” Mokhtar Salahshour, head of Hormozgan Province’s Red Crescent, told state TV.

Iranian state media said the quakes had magnitudes of 5.7 and 5.8. The European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) said one earthquake had a magnitude of 5.5.

In early July, at least five people were killed and 49 injured by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake that struck an area near the epicentre of Saturday’s quake.