Flooding caused by Cyclone Gonu which swept southern Iran killed 12 people and damaged more than 1,000 villages, the semi-official Mehr News Agency reported on Saturday.

Officials said the storm affected the provinces of Hormuzgan, Kerman and Sistan-Baluchistan, damaging roads, bridges and houses. "So far 12 people in Sistan-Baluchistan and Hormuzgan have been killed and 9 have been injured due to floods," Mehr quoted emergency services official Farzad Panahi.

Iranian media on Friday had said 5 people were killed.

Cyclone Gonu killed 49 people in the Sultanate of Oman and its news agency said 27 people were still missing.

Officials in both Iran and Oman have said conditions were gradually returning to normal, Reuters reported.

An Iranian Interior Ministry official told Mehr the full extent of damage caused by the hurricane had yet to be assessed due to difficulties communicating with the worst-hit areas. International flights were resumed Friday from Oman's Muscat airport.  

© 2007 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)