11 killed in flash floods in northern Iraq

Baghdad [Iraq], December 18 (ANI/Xinhua): The death toll from flash floods caused by torrential rain in northern Iraq has risen to 11 on Friday.
The torrential rain killed 11 people, including a Filipino and a Turk, on Thursday night and Friday morning in Erbil province in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, Nabaz Abdulhamid, mayor of Erbil, said in a statement.
Abdulhamid added that the torrents caused great material damage in the southern suburb of Darato and the town of Qushtapa in the south of Erbil.
Sattar Omer, town mayor of Qushtapa, told Xinhua that about 100 houses and 200 cars were damaged in the town.
According to the Kurdistan Meteorological Department, heavy rainfalls are expected to continue in Erbil during the coming days.
The disastrous heavy rain came at a time when Iraq is suffering from a drought. (ANI/Xinhua)