Landslides kill 12 in Turkey

LANDSLIDES and floods triggered by torrential rains swept through a town in northern Turkey, killing at least 12 people, officials said.

The landslide hit dozens of homes in Gundogdu, in the tea-growing Black Sea province of Rize. The region has become prone to landslides because of deforestation to clear way for plantations.

The rains began late on Thursday as many people were breaking their dawn- to-dusk fasts for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The Interior Ministry had said 11 were killed and two were reported missing. Rescuers later pulled out the body of an elderly woman, Anatolia news agency reported, raising the death toll to 12.

Private NTV television said dozens of homes collapsed and cars were buried in mud. Several roads, including a major Black Sea coastal highway, were shut down.