Floods kill five and displace families in Syria

Heavy rain and flash floods across several Syrian provinces killed five people, including four children, and left five others missing, Syria’s Emergency and Disaster Management Ministry said. About 375 families were evacuated from three flood-hit camps in rural Raqqa as emergency teams responded to inundated roads and damaged infrastructure. The ministry said the deaths occurred in Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor. The five missing people were reported in rural areas of Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and Aleppo, and search operations were continuing, according to a ministry update relayed by state media. The figures have not been independently verified in the reports. The evacuated families left the Sahlat al-Banat, Al-Younani and Al-Maqas camps after rainwater flooded the sites. Residents said water entered parts of the camps and caused some tents to collapse. Two of the camps, Sahlat al-Banat and Al-Younani, were reported to house about 10,000 people displaced by Syria’s civil war. Flooding also damaged transport links. The Syrian Arab News Agency reported that al-Salmani Bridge near Tabqa collapsed, closing the road connecting Raqqa with Aleppo. The ministry said seven bridges, culverts and...