Search and rescue teams found 10 more bodies overnight, raising the death toll from severe floods and landslides that hit northern Turkey to 27.
Floods hit the coastal provinces of Bartin, Kastamonu, Sinop and Samsun on Wednesday, destroying houses, bridges and sweeping away cars. Hundreds of people were rescued by helicopters, another 1,700 people were evacuated.
"The destruction is enormous," Kerem Kinik, head of the Turkish Red Crescent, told NTV. "I hope that the missing are safe and that the death toll does not increase."
Flood waters flooded much of the town of Bozkurt in Kastamonu, where one building collapsed and the other was severely damaged. In Bartin province, at least 13 people were injured when part of a bridge collapsed.
Bozkurt resident Yilmaz Ersevenli said that he left the house to move the car to a safe place when the water began to rise, but was soon swept away by the gushing stream. He managed to escape by holding onto a tree, which was also washed away by water.
“I nearly died trying to save my car,” he said.
The Bureau of Disaster and Emergency Management, or AFAD, said rescuers found 10 more bodies on Friday in flood-stricken Kastamonu, bringing the death toll to 27. An 80-year-old woman went missing in Bartin province.
More than 5,000 people, 19 helicopters and 500 vehicles were involved in the rescue operations with the support of non-governmental organizations and the military.
Flooding collapsed five bridges and damaged two more, AFAD reported. Hundreds of villages were left without electricity and several roads were blocked.
Speaking in Bozkurt late Thursday, Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu called the event "the most severe flood I've seen."
The Turkish Meteorological Office announced that new heavy rains are expected in the central and eastern region of the Black Sea and warned of the risk of new floods.
