The sudden, destructive deluge hit the country during Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, when many take to the road for vacations. At least 19 people died in Shiraz, a city in southern Iran that is a popular tourist destination, according to the privately owned Tasnim News Agency, based in Tehran.
The floods also hit the northern provinces of Mazandaran and Golestan, killing at least five people and affecting more than 200 villages, Tasnim reported on Monday.
Video footage on social media showed people clinging to lampposts in an effort to avoid being washed away by a torrent of water and mud, with cars and other debris swept along in the tumult. President Hassan Rouhani of Iran praised the efforts of the emergency services, including the police and troops.
“Floods in a number of provinces around the country, especially in Shiraz, which has left a number of our dear citizens dead and injured in addition to ample financial damages to our fellow Iranians, has caused great grief and sorrow,” President Hassan Rouhani said.
Source: The New York Times
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