The death toll of flood victims in Turkey has exceeded 40 after fierce rainstorms hit the country thisweek, the Anatolian News Agency reported on Thursday.
More than 30 people died in Rize, the mountainous Black Sea province hardest hit by the storms, and hundreds of people were forced to evacuate for fear that more mudslides may submerge homes.
Rescue workers have given up hope of finding 18 missing victims from flooding in the province.
"We've lost hope for the 18 people buried beneath the rubble. Our death toll is now above 30," Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz told reporters while touring the village of Selamet.
In Mus province, a six-year-old boy was swept away by flood water on Thursday.
Eleven people, including six children, died earlier in the week in Kars, Tokat, Corum and Yozgat provinces.
Torrential rains across central and eastern Turkey this week have flooded hundreds of homes, killed livestock and destroyed fields in the largely agricultural provinces.
Yilmaz said in Rize that the government had offered 500 billion Turkish liras (about 300,000 US dollars) as emergency aid demanded by the Rize governor.
(Xinhua News Agency July 26, 2002)
