Engineer Ahmad Hamed Shatri, who went missing after floodwaters swept through the Bazyan area of Sulaymaniyah governorate earlier this week.
Search continues for engineer swept away by floods in Bazyan
SULAYMANIYAH — Search teams are still looking for the body of an engineer who went missing during recent flooding in Bazyan subdistrict of Sulaymaniyah governorate, more than five days after he was swept away, local authorities said Sunday.
The engineer disappeared last Tuesday after floodwaters surged through several areas of the Kurdistan Region. He was staying in a cabin in the Bazyan area when the water carried him away, and he is believed to have drowned.
Bazyan Subdistrict Administrator Ismail Ahmed told 964media on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025, that authorities placed all teams on high alert from the first day of the incident and have carried out repeated searches along the Bazyan river and surrounding areas.
“From the day of the flood, all of our teams were put on full alert, and we searched the entire Bazyan river and its surroundings three times in an effort to find the body of that Arab citizen,” Ahmed said.
He said reports from residents prompted an expansion of the search area. “Several citizens informed us that at the end of Bazyan, a body was seen floating on the river water. Since yesterday, we have intensified our searches in that area, and we suspect it may have reached the Garmian and Sangaw areas,” he said.
Ahmed said Sangaw subdistrict authorities joined the operation Sunday, adding that previous flooding incidents in the area have shown that floodwaters can carry debris and bodies long distances before they become trapped.
The incident follows days of heavy rainfall that struck the Kurdistan Region earlier this week. Authorities previously confirmed the death of engineer Ahmad Hamed Shatri, who was swept away in the same flooding in Bazyan and was confirmed dead after two days of searching, raising the storm-related death toll to five across the region.
Elsewhere, floods killed two people and injured 12 in Chamchamal district, damaged more than 500 houses, claimed the life of a child in Kalar’s Gazino stream and swept away a 9-year-old girl in Kirkuk governorate.