UPDATE 4 - Death toll from floods in Turkey's Black Sea region rises to 77

UPDATES DEATH TOLL; CHANGES HEAD, DECK, LEDE; EDITS THROUGHOUT

By Isa Toprak

ANKARA (AA) - The death toll from floods in Turkey's Black Sea region has risen to 77, authorities said on Monday.

Floods caused by heavy rain hit the Black Sea region in the north of the country last Wednesday, leaving 62 people dead in the province of Kastamonu, said a Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) statement.

Fourteen others died in the Sinop province, along with one more person in the Bartin province. The treatment of seven people continues in hospitals, it said.

A total of 341 people in Bartin, 1,480 in Kastamonu, and 560 in Sinop were evacuated to safe areas, added the agency.

Earlier on Monday, it also announced that 47 people were reported missing in Sinop and Kastamonu.

Rescue and relief efforts continue in the flood-hit areas, with some 8,100 personnel, 1,000 vehicles, 21 helicopters, and 81 ambulances, it added.

On Friday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited the worst-hit flood area in Bozkurt, Kastamonu. Erdogan announced that the places affected had been declared disaster zones and are slated for government aid.