In brief
Flash floods that struck northern and eastern Syria on Thursday left five dead, including four children, and five missing. The Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management reported the deaths, a bridge collapse and rescue of 15 civilians trapped in floodwater, while evacuation of 375 families from camps was carried out.
On Thursday, heavy rains turned into flash floods across northern and eastern Syria, killing five people—four children and a man—and leaving five others missing, the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management said.
All four children drowned in bodies of water in the Raqqa and Deir Az Zor governorates. A man lost his life when his car was pulled into floodwaters near the al‑Salmani Bridge, west of Tabqa.
The ministry also reported the collapse of the al‑Salmani Bridge, a key link between Raqqa and Aleppo, as well as damage to other bridges in Aleppo, Hasakah and Homs. Emergency teams rescued 15 civilians whose vehicles were trapped by rising water.
Responders evacuated approximately 375 families from three displacement camps on the rural outskirts of Raqqa in response to flood‑related displacement.
Al Jazeera noted that the region’s infrastructure suffered widespread damage and highlighted that, earlier in the year, UNICEF had recorded 17,000 people affected by flooding in Syria, including 700 displaced families and the shutdown of 49 water treatment plants in Deir Az Zor and Raqqa.
While the ministry confirmed five deaths and five missing, the exact number of missing individuals remains unverified by independent sources. The Al Jazeera report states five others—two children among them—were also reported missing at the time of its publishing. The Anadolu Ajansı and Arab News accounts corroborate the fatality count but do not provide additional missing‑person details beyond the initial five.
