At Least 4 Dead, 2 Missing in San Antonio after Heavy Rains Flood Parts of Texas

Cars dive away from a storm during a Project ICECHIP operation Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Morton, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Cars dive away from a storm during a Project ICECHIP operation Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Morton, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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At Least 4 Dead, 2 Missing in San Antonio after Heavy Rains Flood Parts of Texas

Cars dive away from a storm during a Project ICECHIP operation Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Morton, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Cars dive away from a storm during a Project ICECHIP operation Thursday, June 5, 2025, in Morton, Texas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Heavy rains swamped San Antonio early Thursday, killing at least four people who were swept away in floodwaters as crews rescued dozens of others, officials said.

Fire officials said they were still searching for two people who were missing. Calls for water rescues began shortly before sunrise, according to the San Antonio Police Department.

Two women and two men were found dead, police Chief William McManus said. He did not have their ages, The Associated Press reported.

The deaths all occurred in the northeast part of the city, where authorities found 13 vehicles in the water.

“It’s hard to determine at this point exactly how they got swept away," San Antonio Fire Department spokesman Woody Woodward said. "But it is an area where there was high water that was moving rapidly and there were several people that were caught in that water that had climbed up into trees and we did do a couple of rescues out of trees and some rescues out of vehicles.”

The department had made 65 water rescues since midnight throughout the San Antonio area, he said.

By midmorning, rain had stopped and the flooding was receding.



Russia Becomes First Country to Formally Recognize Taliban’s Latest Rule in Afghanistan

In this photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service on Oct. 4, 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, right, and Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban movement Amir Khan Muttaqi pose for a photo prior to their talks in Moscow, Russia. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
In this photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service on Oct. 4, 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, right, and Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban movement Amir Khan Muttaqi pose for a photo prior to their talks in Moscow, Russia. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
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Russia Becomes First Country to Formally Recognize Taliban’s Latest Rule in Afghanistan

In this photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service on Oct. 4, 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, right, and Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban movement Amir Khan Muttaqi pose for a photo prior to their talks in Moscow, Russia. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP, File)
In this photo released by Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service on Oct. 4, 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, right, and Acting Foreign Minister of Afghanistan's Taliban movement Amir Khan Muttaqi pose for a photo prior to their talks in Moscow, Russia. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP, File)

Russia on Thursday became the first country to formally recognize the Taliban’s government in Afghanistan since it seized power in 2021, after Moscow removed the group from its list of outlawed organizations.

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that it had received credentials from Afghanistan’s newly appointed Ambassador Gul Hassan Hassan. The official recognition of the Afghan government will foster “productive bilateral cooperation,” the ministry said in a statement.

Afghanistan’s Foreign Ministry called it a historic step, and quoted Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi as welcoming the decision as "a good example for other countries.”

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces. Since then, they have sought international recognition while also enforcing their strict interpretation of religious law.

While no country had formally recognized the Taliban administration until now, the group had engaged in high-level talks with many nations and established some diplomatic ties with countries including China and the United Arab Emirates.

Still, the Taliban government has been relatively isolated on the world stage, largely over its restrictions on women.

Russian officials have recently been emphasizing the need to engage with the Taliban to help stabilize Afghanistan, and lifted a ban on the Taliban in April.

Russia’s ambassador to Afghanistan, Dmitry Zhirnov, said in remarks broadcast by state Channel One television that the decision to officially recognize the Taliban government was made by President Vladimir Putin on advice from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Zhirnov said the decision proves Russia’s “sincere striving for the development of full-fledged relations with Afghanistan.”