Iran on Friday raised the death toll from landslides and flash floods this week across the country to at least 53, including those killed in a mudslide in the capital the previous day, state TV reported.
More than 30 people died in two villages northwest and northeast of Tehran after a monsoon dumped heavy rain that triggered mudslides there, the report said. Almost two dozen people died in eight other provinces, and 21 of Iran's 31 provinces were affected by the heavy rain.
There were fears the death toll could rise further as at least 16 people remained missing and more bodies were being uncovered after the rains abated. The report said military personnel had joined rescue efforts and were helping transfer thousands from remote areas to safer places.
Last Saturday, flash floods in Iran's drought-stricken southern Fars province killed at least 22 people and affected about a dozen villages.
This week's storms are the deadliest among Iran's rain-related incidents in the last decade.
In 2019, a flash flood killed at least 21 people in the southern city of Shiraz, and two years earlier, a similar storm claimed 48 lives in northwestern Iran.
Mudslides in northern Iran in 2001 and in Tehran in 1987 killed 500 and 300 people, respectively.
Before Thursday's mudslide, authorities had warned residents of Tehran's mountainous areas about heavy rains and possible floods. More heavy rains were expected in coming days.
Authorities have blamed the high death toll on a wide disregard of safety measures by people who venture out in the storms, while critics cite mismanagement in construction projects as well as late warnings as other causes.
Week-long Iran flooding leaves at least 80 dead and 30 missing
A general view shows destruction following the flood in Firuzkuh, east of Tehran, Iran July 30, 2022.
At least 80 people have been killed and 30 others are missing in floods that have wreaked havoc across Iran for more than a week, state media reported Saturday.
Since the start of the Iranian month of Mordad on July 23, "59 people died and 30 are still missing in the incidents caused by recent floods," Yaghoub Soleimani, secretary-general of the Red Crescent Society, was quoted as saying by state news agency IRNA.
That is in addition to flash floods caused by heavy rains in the normally dry southern province of Fars that left at least 22 people dead just before the start of Mordad.
Many of those victims were spending the day by a riverside.
Soleimani noted that 60 cities, 140 towns and more than 500 villages across the country of around 83 million people have been affected by the inundations.
Tehran province is the hardest-hit with 35 deaths. Nearby Mazandaran province has the highest number of missing people at 20, a list published by the Red Crescent showed.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a letter published on his website Saturday, expressed condolences to the families and called on authorities to take necessary measures to repair the damage.
President Ebrahim Raisi visited flood-ravaged areas in Firouzkouh region east of the capital, his office said.
Severe damage occurred there primarily because of a mountain landslide late Thursday which claimed 14 lives, according to state media.
Videos and pictures posted by Iranian media and on social media showed houses and cars surrounded by grey mud, and people trying to recover their belongings.
Initial estimates point to more than 60 trillion rials (about $200 million) in damages to the agricultural sector, Agriculture Minister Javad Sadatinejad said, according to state broadcaster IRIB.
Iran's meteorological centre on Saturday warned of more rains in the southern and northern provinces in the coming days.
Comment: Update July 30
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