Flooding in southern Iran has killed at least 22 people and left one person missing following heavy rainfall in the largely arid country, a local official said on Saturday.
Iran has endured repeated droughts over the past decade, but also regular floods, a phenomenon made worse when torrential rain falls on sun-baked earth.
Videos posted on local and social media showed vehicles being carried away by the rising waters of the Roodball river in the southern province of Fars. One video showed adults pulling a child from a car as it began to shift downstream.
“The number of people killed has risen to 22 after another body was found,” due to floods that affected several towns in and around Estahban county, Javad Moradian, who heads a local rescue unit, told Mehr news agency.
A Red Crescent official earlier put the death toll at 21, with two people missing.
The governor of Estahban, Yousef Kargar, said “around 5:00 pm yesterday, heavy rains… in the central parts of Estahban County led to flooding”, according to state news agency IRNA.
