TUNIS, Tunisia / ISTANBUL

Five people were killed as severe weather battered Tunisia for a second straight day on Wednesday, prompting authorities to close educational institutions in 15 governorates and disrupting transport in the capital.

Schools and secondary institutes were closed in Tunis, where metro lines were also disrupted, according to an Anadolu reporter.

The Tunisian Prime Ministry said that it had suspended classes in 15 governorates across northern, eastern and western Tunisia due to continued heavy rain and deteriorating weather conditions.

In a statement, the prime minister’s office said classes were halted at all public and private educational and training institutions, universities and nurseries in the governorates of El Kef, Beja, Jendouba, Siliana, Bizerte, Nabeul, Zaghouan, Sousse, Monastir, Mahdia, Sfax, Tunis Governorate, Ariana, Ben Arous and Manouba.

The Tunisian Civil Protection said it recovered a body in the town of El Haouaria in northeastern Tunisia, raising the flood-related death toll to five. Four people were reported killed Tuesday in the city of Moknine, in the east.

The National Guard of Tunisia said several roads remain closed due to overflowing wadis. Traffic was cut on the old National Road No. 5 near Majaz al-Bab, on the road linking Majaza and Kalaat Senan, and on the road to the village of El Qnissa in the Takelsa area.

Separately, authorities continued search operations for four fishermen missing after their boat capsized off the coast of Monastir.

Mohamed Daghem, head of the regional farmers’ union in Monastir, said five fishermen set out from the port of Teboulba on Monday morning for fishing, but sudden and severe weather caused their boat to overturn.

Daghem told Anadolu that one fisherman survived and reached the shore of Qurayyat Island, about 15 kilometers off the coast of Monastir, while search efforts continued for the remaining four.

“The authorities are doing their duty, and we hope they will be found,” he said.

According to the National Institute of Meteorology, heavy rainfall affected large parts of Tunisia from Tuesday through Wednesday morning. The highest recorded amounts between 7 am Tuesday and 7 am Wednesday were 188 millimeters in Beni Khalled, 140 millimeters in Menzel Bouzelfa, and 110 millimeters in Bou Mhel.