Death toll from flash floods in Iran reaches 53

Tehran: At least 53 people have been killed in recent flash floods in different Iranian provinces, a senior Iranian rescue and relief official said.

Mehdi Vallipour, Head of the Relief and Rescue Organisation of the Iranian Red Crescent Society, told the semi-official Fars News Agency on Friday that 16 people were still missing.

Vallipour noted that 3,000 people have so far been provided with emergency accommodation and another 1,300 were transferred to safe places, Xinhua news agency reported.

Rescue operations are being carried out by 687 rescue teams comprising 3,000 rescuers, he added.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Friday ordered the Ministers, Heads of organisations and Governor-Generals across the country to mobilise all their facilities to manage the possible floods, according to the presidential website.

"It is necessary for the Governor-Generals to provide relief to the flooded areas in their provinces or to certain neighbouring provinces with all available facilities," he said.

Earlier in the day, Hossein-Ali Mohammadi, Head of the Crisis Management Organisation of Mazandaran province, said that the flood has resulted in the partial collapse of a building and the destruction of a bridge, in addition to the damage to a provincial road.

Mohammadi added that in some cities, power and telecommunication networks have had temporary outages.

The ongoing heavy rainfall, expected to continue until Monday, have so far led to flooding in 20 Iranian provinces, causing damage to 100 counties and 300 villages.

Residents in the affected areas have been warned against going to potentially high-risk areas, such as river banks and watercourses.