DAMASCUS, Feb 9, (Xinhua): Syria's Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management said Sunday its teams continued large-scale response operations late Saturday after heavy rainfall triggered flash floods across several western and northwestern provinces, causing casualties, displacement and widespread damage to civilian areas.

Till 11:30 p.m. local time on Saturday, torrential rains affected parts of Latakia, Idlib and Hama provinces, according to an official report. Flash flooding damaged urban areas and hit 14 displacement camps in western Idlib, impacting an estimated 300 families. Civil defense teams under the ministry responded immediately to distress calls across affected areas.

Operations focused on search and rescue, evacuations, draining floodwaters, and reopening roads blocked by rising water levels, the ministry said. In Latakia's mountainous Turkman Mountain area, two children died after being swept away by floodwaters in rugged valleys, a remote area that is not home to displacement camps.

The civil defense has recovered their bodies. Separately, a volunteer from the Syrian Arab Red Crescent was killed and six others, including five volunteers, were injured in a traffic accident during a relief mission in the Turkman Mountain area. Flooding also forced an evacuation of patients, medical staff, and newborns at a hospital in western Idlib.

Civilians were evacuated from several displacement camps and residential areas in Idlib and Latakia provinces as a precaution. The ministry said teams drained floodwater, reopened roads and restored access to displacement camps across affected areas in Idlib, Latakia and Hama provinces. As part of emergency relief efforts, eight temporary shelters were set up in schools in western Idlib to accommodate families displaced by the floods.