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Baghdad: At least 21 people have died and tens of thousands displaced by heavy rains that have battered Iraq over two days, the health ministry and United Nations said on Sunday. Women and children were among the dead, health ministry spokesman Seif al-Badr told AFP. Some had drowned, but others had died in car accidents, were electrocuted, or were trapped when their houses collapsed.

At least 180 more were injured, he added. Iraq and neighbouring countries have been hit by heavier-than-average rainfall in recent weeks, resulting in deaths and widespread damage. The country's north has borne the brunt of it, and the UN's Iraq office said the downpour had forced tens of thousands of people out of their homes.

An estimated 10,000 people in Salahaddin province and 15,000 people in Nineveh are in desperate need of help, including families living in displacement camps, the UN said.

In the Al-Sharqat district in Salahaddin, about 250 kilometres (150 miles) north of Baghdad, thousands of homes were left totally underwater by the rains.

And in Mosul, the Islamic State group's onetime bastion in Iraq, the heavy storms submerged two floating bridges along the Tigris river, which bisects the city.

They were the only way to move between Mosul's eastern and western halves, after its bridges were all bombed by the anti-IS fight.

Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi announced Friday he was establishing a "crisis cell" of security forces and local authorities to coordinate a response. The ministries of electricity, oil, and trade had also indicated their willingness to help.

Iraq is one of the hottest countries on earth but when heavy rains do hit, they can result in casualties because of deteriorating public infrastructure.

In 2015, 58 Iraqis were killed in floods and cases of electrocution due to intense downpours.



</s>BAGHDAD: At least 21 people have died and tens of thousands displaced by heavy rains that have battered Iraq over two days, the health ministry and United Nations said on Sunday.

Women and children were among the dead, health ministry spokesman Seif al-Badr told AFP. Some had drowned, but others had died in car accidents, were electrocuted, or were trapped when their houses collapsed.

At least 180 more were injured, he added. Iraq and neighbouring countries have been hit by heavier-than-average rainfall in recent weeks, resulting in deaths and widespread damage. The country's north has borne the brunt of it, and the UN's Iraq office said the downpour had forced tens of thousands of people out of their homes.

An estimated 10,000 people in Salahaddin province and 15,000 people in Nineveh are in desperate need of help, including families living in displacement camps, the UN said. In the Al-Sharqat district in Salahaddin, about 250 kilometres north of Baghdad, thousands of homes were left totally underwater by the rains. And in Mosul, the Islamic State group's onetime bastion in Iraq, the heavy storms submerged two floating bridges along the Tigris river, which bisects the city.</s>At least seven people, including children, have been killed and thousands have been forced to flee their homes after heavy rains triggered flash floods in northern Iraq.Officials told the dpa news agency on Friday that the seven people were killed when floods hit the al-Houreya village in Salahuddin province.Ali Dodah, the mayor of Shirqat, a town 260km northwest of Baghdad and around 80km south of Mosul, said rains had flooded houses and farms with "some 3,000 people now homeless".Footage from the state-run Iraqi News Agency showed people in Salahuddin province, where Shirqat is located, escaping their half-submerged homes in small boats.The Kurdish news agency Rudaw reported that the floods had damaged a camp housing at least 30 internally displaced Yazidi families, with residents facing temperatures hovering around zero."This has been our life for three years. Nobody is helping us. We go to the manager [of the camp], he says go to the local mayor. Nobody recognises us," one Yazidi man was quoted as saying.The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) systematically killed, captured, and enslaved thousands of Yazidis in the summer of 2014 as they overran the Sinjar area, where many of the minority group lived. UN investigators have said it constituted genocide.The floods, after unusually heavy and early rainfall in recent weeks, have piled more pressure on Iraq's new government to provide services and fix infrastructure in provinces hard-hit by the 2014-17 war against ISIL, also known as ISIS, and by years of neglect that critics blame on corruption.</s>At least 21 people have died and dozens more have been injured as heavy rains battered Iraq over the past two days, the health ministry spokesman told AFP on Sunday.

Women and children were among the dead, Seif al-Badr said. Some had drowned, but others had died in car accidents, were electrocuted, or were trapped when their houses fell on them.

Meanwhile, local media reported that as many as 300 homes have been badly damaged by the floods, especially in Nineveh and Kirkuk provinces.

Also, heavy flooding inundated the town of Al-Shirqat in Saladin province, northwest of Baghdad, following days of heavy rainfall in the area.

Several countries in the region -- including Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Jordan -- have been pounded by torrential rains in recent days that have left scores dead.
At least 21 people have died, 180 have been injured and tens of thousands have been displaced by heavy rains that have affected Iraq.