Flooding death toll up to 57; dozens missing

The death toll from severe floods and mudslides along Turkey’s Black Sea coast has climbed to at least 57, the country’s emergency and disaster agency said Saturday, as authorities disputed reports that dozens more people were missing.

Torrential rains that pounded the Black Sea provinces of Bartin, Kastamonu and Sinop on Wednesday caused flooding that demolished homes, severed at least five bridges, swept away cars and rendered numerous roads unpassable. Turkish disaster agency AFAD said 48 people were killed in Kastamonu, eight in Sinop and one in Bartin.

Speaking late Saturday in Kastamonu, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said 15 of the dead had not been identified yet.

Associated Press Women look at the destroyed building where they lived in Turkey on Saturday.