Man taking selfie among seven dead as storms lash Iran

TEHRAN // A man taking a selfie after an Iranian dam burst was among at least seven people killed as floods, avalanches and dust storms gripped the country.

The 40- year- old was swept away while taking the photo beside a river swollen by the breach of the earthen dam near the south- east city of Jiroft, according to a Red Crescent official.

His body has yet to be recovered. Waters from the burst dam flooded parts of Jiroft, damaging dozens of homes.

A second man was killed in a flash flood in the south-west province of Bushehr.

The torrential rain caused flooding across the south. Thousands fled villages downstream from dams fearing collapses like that in Jiroft.

In the north, at least five people were killed in avalanches over the past two weeks as up to two metres of snow fell in the Zagros and Alborz mountain ranges.

Hundreds of villages were cut off in the provinces of Kurdistan, East Azerbaijan and Gilan. Even as downpours gripped much of the south, residents of some areas near the Iraqi border were praying for rain as some of the worst dust storms in years sent hundreds to hospital with respiratory problems.

Photos shared on social media showed cars, kitchens and furniture covered in thick dust beneath an orange sky.

Dust levels in the air were 18 times the normal levels, officials in Khuzestan province said. Long power cuts hit the cities of Ahvaz, Khoramshahr and Abadan as the combination of the dust and up to 98 per cent humidity played havoc with the electricity grid.

In Ahvaz, residents held demonstrations calling for government assistance. Several artists and celebrities launched a solidarity campaign on social media. About 50 members of parliament have also written to president Hassan Rouhani in support of the campaign.