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At least 18 people, mainly schoolchildren and teachers, were killed Thursday by a sudden flood during a school trip near the Dead Sea in Jordan, in one of the worst disasters in the kingdom for years, said rescuers and hospital workers.
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Thirty-four people were rescued during a major operation involving police helicopters and hundreds of armies, said police chief Brigadier General Farid al Sharaa on television. 39; State. Some of the rescued people were in serious condition.
A large number of those killed were children under 14 years old. A number of families who picnicked in the popular destination were also among the dead and wounded, rescuers said, without giving detailed figures.
Hundreds of families and relatives converged on Shounah Hospital, a few kilometers from the resort. Relatives sobbed and sought details about the missing children, a witness said.
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The floods occurred after heavy rains, the first of this type after the end of the summer season.
Prime Minister Omar Razzaz said that it appeared that the school had violated the regulations of the Ministry of Education prohibiting travel to the Dead Sea because of bad weather and had initiated an investigation to hold anyone held responsible for any wrongdoing.
Razzaz said that divers and civil defense research teams would conduct search operations deep in the Dead Sea all night.
The father of one of the survivors said that a bus with 37 schoolchildren and seven teachers had gone to the resort area. They were caught in a narrow creek while a sudden torrential rain flooded the area.
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"The children tried to escape the flood by going to the bus, but its doors were closed," Abu Yousef told reporters.
"The teachers tried to save the children, but the intensity of the floods made it impossible," he added, pointing out that the children had been swept away by the waters of the Dead Sea. lowest point on the planet.
King Abdullah canceled his trip to Bahrain to follow rescue operations, the media reported.
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An Israeli neighbor sent search and rescue helicopters to help, according to a statement from the Israeli army, adding that the team dispatched to Amman's request was operating on the Jordanian side of the border. dead Sea.
Civil Defense spokesman Captain Iyad al Omar told Reuters that the number of casualties is expected to increase. Rescuers using flashlights searched the cliffs near the shore of the Dead Sea, where bodies had been found.
There have been deadly incidents related to sudden floods in Jordan in the past and in 1963, 23 French tourists were washed away by sudden floods while they were trapped in the ancient city of Petra.
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