At least four people have died and 11 are missing after heavy rain caused flooding along Turkey’s Black Sea coastline, the interior minister said Sunday. The fatalities included a police officer whose vehicle was swept away by the floods. Visiting the hardest hit town of Dereli, in Giresun province, Suleyman Soylu said that 127 people had been rescued. Soylu also said that roads to 118 villages in the region remain closed. Television footage showed vehicles and debris floating on the main road of Dereli, about 20 kilometers inland. Heavy rain Saturday evening forced the evacuation of apartment buildings after landslides in Rize province, 180 kilometers east of Giresun. According to meteorologists, heavy storms are expected in Giresun and the neighboring provinces of Trabzon, Rize and Artvin later Sunday.
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