In brief
Heavy rainfall triggered flash floods that swept across northern and eastern Syria, killing five people—including four children—and leaving several others missing. The floods caused widespread damage, including the collapse of the al‑Salmani Bridge that links Raqqa to Aleppo and the loss of several water treatment plants, officials say. Emergency services have rescued trapped civilians and evacuated several hundred families from displacement camps.
Heavy rain in northern and eastern Syria has triggered flash floods that killed five people, including four children, according to the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management.
The ministry said the children drowned in bodies of water across Raqqa and Deir Az Zor governorates while a man died when his car was caught in floodwaters near al‑Salmani Bridge in the western Raqqa countryside.
State news agency SANA reported that the al‑Salmani Bridge, located west of Tabqa, collapsed under the flooding, severing the road that links Raqqa to Aleppo. The Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management said the bridge’s collapse shut the road, disrupting transport and evacuation routes.
Emergency teams rescued 15 civilians trapped in vehicles by the rising water and evacuated about 375 families from three camps on the rural outskirts of Raqqa.
The floods also damaged infrastructure in several provinces, with the Ministry saying that bridges in Aleppo, Raqqa, Deir Az Zor, Hasakah and Homs were disrupted or destroyed.
UNICEF warned earlier this year that 17,000 people had been affected by flooding, with 700 families displaced, 2,000 children affected and 49 water treatment plants in the affected governorates out of service.
Five people remain missing, two of them children, according to the ministry’s latest situation update spread over X and other social media channels.
In a statement, the ministry highlighted that the flooding has left the region with damaged infrastructure and that emergency teams continue to work to stabilize the situation and provide assistance to those impacted.
