Death toll in Slovenia floods rises to five

LJUBLJANA, Sep 19 (Reuters) Five people died in Slovenia in floods and landslides caused by heavy rains, the country's Administration for Civil Protection and Disaster Relief said today.

''We now have five dead while one woman is still missing but we do not expect the death toll to increase beyond that,'' spokesman Bojan Kuntaric told Reuters.

He said many roads in northern parts of the country, hit by heavy rain yesterday, were still blocked but conditions were improving.

He added it was too early to assess the damage caused by the flood.

Two people died after a landslide hit their house, two were swept away while trying to save their property and a volunteer fire-fighter was electrocuted while pumping water from a house.

Several parts of Slovenia had no electricity or drinking water and phone land lines were cut off in a number of cities.

Water swept away about 150 cars parked in the city of Zelezniki, some 40 kilometres northwest of Ljubljana, state television showed.

The flood water also washed away a famous World War Two hospital, built from wood in a narrow river canyon in northwestern Slovenia.

REUTERS SG BD1825