Floods kill at least eight in northern Iraq

SULAIMANIYA, Iraq - Flash floods in northern Iraq killed at least eight people on Friday, Iraqi Kurdish authorities said.

Another three people were missing after heavy rain caused the floods in remote areas south of the city of Erbil, capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, the Kurdish civil defence first responders said.

Flooding and intense storms often hit parts of Iraq during the winter, especially in the north, but are rarely so deadly.

Several people were killed and thousands fled their homes in flash floods in northern Iraqi in 2018.