Flash floods brought down a bridge in eastern Syria on Saturday, killing at least one man and cutting a road link to the Iraqi border, local officials said. The collapse of the Al-Suwayiyah bridge, east of Al-Bukamal in Deir ez-Zor province, left residents unable to cross from one side to the other and neighbourhoods isolated, The Insight International reported.

The man who died was on the bridge when it gave way. Mohammed Bdewi told Anadolu Agency that his brother, Hussein, was returning after taking his sister to her village. He urged the authorities to build a permanent replacement rather than rely on temporary repairs.

Hisham Matar, the head of civil defense in Al-Bukamal, said floodwaters had submerged many homes and roads and damaged the electricity network, causing power cuts. He said rescue crews were assessing the damage and watching water levels.

Osama Arbo, who leads emergency operations for Deir ez-Zor at Syria’s Emergency and Disaster Management Ministry, said the worst damage was in the village of al-Hari on the Syrian-Iraqi border. In a preliminary assessment he put the number of damaged homes at about 25 and said civil defense teams were carrying out emergency repairs so that people could move again.

Heavy rain has also caused flooding in Latakia and Aleppo provinces. In the Bayirbucak area of Latakia, floodwaters brought down another bridge over the Al-Kabir al-Shamali River, and flooding reached farmland and homes in Afrin, north of Aleppo.