Flood Deaths in Türkiye’s Quake-stricken Area Rise to 16

People are rescued during floods after heavy rains in Sanliurfa, Türkiye, Wednesday, March 15, 2023. (Hakan Akgun / Associated Press)
People are rescued during floods after heavy rains in Sanliurfa, Türkiye, Wednesday, March 15, 2023. (Hakan Akgun / Associated Press)
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Flood Deaths in Türkiye’s Quake-stricken Area Rise to 16

People are rescued during floods after heavy rains in Sanliurfa, Türkiye, Wednesday, March 15, 2023. (Hakan Akgun / Associated Press)
People are rescued during floods after heavy rains in Sanliurfa, Türkiye, Wednesday, March 15, 2023. (Hakan Akgun / Associated Press)

Rescue teams on Thursday retrieved two more bodies after floods struck two Turkish provinces that were already devastated by last month’s powerful earthquake, raising the death toll in the new disaster to 16.

Flash floods caused by torrential rains turned streets in the provinces of Adiyaman and Sanlifurfa into rivers on Wednesday, sweeping away cars and inundating homes and campsites sheltering earthquake survivors, The Associated Press reported.

Most of the deaths occurred in Sanliurfa, where rescuers on Thursday found the bodies of two people who had been reported missing amid mud and debris left by the floods. The search teams there were still looking for one missing person.

In Adiyaman, two people drowned after a container home sheltering a family of earthquake survivors was washed away by surging waters. A nurse and her two-year-old child are still missing.

Adiyaman and Sanliurfa were among 11 Turkish provinces that were hit by a magnitude 7.8 earthquake on Feb. 6, killing more than 48,000 people in Türkiye and an estimated 6,000 people in northern Syria.

Meanwhile, a moderately strong earthquake shook a city in northeast Türkiye on Thursday, sending people out into the streets in fear.

The magnitude 4.8 earthquake was centered in the city of Bolu, some 260 kilometers (162 miles) east of Istanbul.

Bolu’s mayor, Tanju Ozcan, told HaberTurk television there were no reports of damage to any buildings in the city but said many people rushed outdoors in fear.

He said medics had responded to “one or two” panic attack cases. A few people were also injured after jumping from balconies.



Trump Orders Reopening of Infamous US Prison Alcatraz

FILE - Fog lingers behind Alcatraz Island, July 1, 2015, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)
FILE - Fog lingers behind Alcatraz Island, July 1, 2015, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)
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Trump Orders Reopening of Infamous US Prison Alcatraz

FILE - Fog lingers behind Alcatraz Island, July 1, 2015, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)
FILE - Fog lingers behind Alcatraz Island, July 1, 2015, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)

US President Donald Trump said he had directed officials to rebuild and reopen Alcatraz prison, the notorious federal jail based on a small island in California that shuttered six decades ago.

The jail will house “America's most ruthless and violent Offenders,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, adding that the institution will be “substantially enlarged.”

Alcatraz closed in 1963 due to high operating costs after being open for just 29 years, according to the US Bureau of Prisons, and now serves as a tourist attraction.

Located two kilometers off the coast of San Francisco and with a capacity of just 336 prisoners, it held several well-known criminals, including Prohibition-era mob boss Al Capone, and saw many fantastical escape attempts by inmates.

Trump has made cracking down on crimes a key element of his second term in the White House.

“When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That's the way it's supposed to be,” Trump wrote.

“No longer will we tolerate these Serial Offenders who spread filth, bloodshed, and mayhem on our streets,” he added.

The US president told reporters as he returned to the White House from Florida, that reopening the prison was “Just an idea I've had” and decided to act on.

“It's a symbol of law and order,” he said.