At Least 8 Killed in Iran Flash Flooding

At least eight people, including five children, have died in flash floods in south Iran, state television reported Thursday.

Heavy rain hit Iran this week, causing casualties and damage in the southern provinces of Fars, Hormozgan and Kerman.

Three children died in the floods in Fars province, where torrents washed away some 400 kilometers (250 miles) of pathways used by local tribes.

A car was also swept away on Thursday morning when a river in Hormozgan province burst its banks, drowning all five passengers including two children. 

About 75 villages were cut off from nearby cities due to flooding in the area of Roudan in the same province, some 130 kilometers east of the southern port city of Bandar Abbas.

Sewage and power infrastructure in 52 villages in the Kerman province also suffered damage estimated at 15.4 billion rials ($510,000), the ISNA news agency reported Thursday.

The province also suffered at least $450,000 in damages last week, ISNA said.