Many dead in Turkey flash floods

At least 20 people have died in severe flooding across south-eastern Turkey, many swept away by deluges caused by overnight torrential rain.

Victims include a party of 14 wedding guests travelling in a minibus from Diyarbakir to neighbouring Mardin.

Helicopters and boats are struggling to rescue some 300 people trapped in their flooded homes in Cinar and Bismil.

Officials have warned that heavy rains, which began over the weekend, are likely to continue in the region.

In Cinar, a woman and her two children drowned when water flooded into their house, news agency AFP reported.

District governor Haci Mehmet Kara said two young siblings had also died in similar circumstances in Silopi, the news agency reported.

Many of the homes in the poor, mainly Kurdish region of Turkey are constructed with mud bricks and cannot withstand floods and earthquakes.