TEHRAN - Flash floods have killed six people in the two western provinces of Ilam and Lorestan in Iran.

Provincial officials said the floods, triggered by heavy downpours, cut water and electricity supply to many residents, and inundated streets and houses in several districts.

Nasser Charkhsaz, director of the Relief and Rescue Organization of the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS), said on Thursday that flash floods have hit the provinces of East Azerbaijan, Ilam, Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Lorestan and Khuzestan since October 28, according to Press TV.

Charkhsaz also said that some 20,000 homes and 1,000 vehicles were damaged by the torrential rains in the province of Ilam, adding that 25 people have been rescued following the floods and transferred to safe zones.

Officials in Ilam, a province which borders Iraq, said three people were killed following torrential rains.

Shapour Pouladi, the deputy governor for development affairs in Ilam Province, said the fatalities included two people in the provincial capital of the same name and one in the city of Dehloran. He said one other person is still missing.

Heavy rain reportedly forced the closure of administrative offices and the cancellation of flights in Ilam on Thursday.

A family of three, including a child, were also killed in the city of Kuhdasht, Lorestan province, after they were trapped inside their house.

The rain is expected to continue until Saturday, according to local forecasts.

Earlier in July, at least 11 people were killed, 30 injured and 12 others unaccounted for in flash floods in ten Iranian provinces.

Iran is expecting a relatively wet winter amid international forecasts suggesting that the Middle East region is bracing for an El Niño climate event unseen since 1950.

MD/P