Floods, landslide kill five people in Turkey

ISTANBUL - Five people were killed and four others were missing in northeast Turkey after heavy rainfall unleashed landslides and flooding, news reports said.

A mother and her two children were buried alive after a landslide flattened the house where they were staying in the Black Sea province of Trabzon, the state-run Anatolian news agency said.

A 56-year-old woman drowned in neighbouring Rize province after being swept away by a stream that broke its banks, the agency said.

One person was killed and four others were missing in Trabzon after their village was flooded, private television channel NTV said.

Housing Minister Faruk Ozak was quoted by NTV as saying several people remained stranded. Several homes and businesses were destroyed, bridges washed away and major roads closed.

Experts blame erosion for the devastating floods that regularly strike Turkey's Black Sea provinces and other areas. In July 2002, more 30 people died in Rize after powerful rainstorms battered the mountainous province.

- REUTERS