ANKARA

The death toll from floods in Turkey's Black Sea region has risen to 59, authorities said on Sunday.

Floods caused by heavy rain hit the Black Sea region in the north of the country on Wednesday, leaving 49 people dead in the province of Kastamonu, a Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) statement said.


Nine others died in the Sinop province along with one more person in Bartin province.

According to a statement by the governor's office in Bartin, 13 bridges were destroyed in the flood, while at least 45 buildings were heavily damaged.

Rescue and relief operations continue in the flood-hit areas, the statement added.

A total of 62 people are reported missing in Kastamonu, along with 14 in Sinop, Turkey's Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said on Saturday after examinations in the Bozkurt district in Kastamonu province alongside Environment and Urbanization Minister Murat Kurum and Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Donmez

"We delivered 20 tons of food yesterday and today by helicopter alone," Soylu said, adding that officials were trying to meet the needs of victims -- from funerals to damage assessment.

Kurum said there were at least 454 severely damaged and ruined buildings in the three provinces but that authorities were working on building new structures within the next year.

Arife Unal, an 85-year-old woman, drowned after she was swept away during the floods in Bartin. Four days of search and rescue efforts ended after finding her lifeless body 600 meters (1,970 feet) from her house.

Some 918 workers in Bartin, 3,547 in Kastamonu, and 1,910 in Sinop are conducting relief work in the affected areas, according to AFAD.


A total of 341 people in Bartin, 1,580 in Kastamonu, and 533 in Sinop were evacuated to safe areas by helicopters and boats, the disaster management agency said.

Meanwhile, 223 volunteers, nine catering trucks, and 54 vehicles sent by the Turkish Red Crescent to the region are working on the ground.