Death toll in Turkey floods rises

Flash floods brought buildings down across south-east Turkey

Another 10 people are reported to have lost their lives overnight in flooding in south-east Turkey, taking the total to at least 32.

The 10 all died in the town of Batman. One report said seven of them were under the age of five.

The flooding followed torrential rain and affected mainly the south-east, but also southern and western Turkey.

On Tuesday 14 wedding guests drowned after their minibus was swept away while travelling from Diyarbakir.

Across the region, many people have needed medical treatment and some are still missing.

Local facilities like sports halls have been turned into refugee centres for families forced to abandon their homes.

Roads and travel routes have been cut off by flooding, and more heavy rain is forecast.

In Batman several of those who died were swept away by floodwaters, while others were killed in collapsed buildings. The authorities are still searching for four missing people.

Helicopters and boats have been deployed to rescue people from roads and rooftops in the flood affected towns of Cinar, Bismil and Silopi.

Many of the homes in the poor, mainly Kurdish south-east of Turkey are constructed with mud bricks and cannot withstand floods and earthquakes.

Sparsely inhabited areas were also badly hit, with farmers fearing for their livelihoods.

Hundreds of animals were killed and vast cotton fields were under water.

Many families have been evacuated from their homes

Other areas of Turkey were badly affected by the storms, including the southern Mediterranean coast and the west of the country, with parts of eastern Istanbul also under water.

"We are helpless," said Mayor Muharrem Ergul, of the Beykoz district of Istanbul.

"We're trying to rescue trapped people while also trying to evacuate flood waters that have inundated hundreds of houses," he told the Associated Press.