Jordan: Sudden floods kill 20 people, including schoolchildren

Schoolchildren were among the 20 people killed when sudden floods hit an area near the Dead Sea in Jordan, the country's official news agency (19659010) reported on Friday, according to 35 new people. An unknown number of people are still missing, hospital sources said.

Brig. General Farid al Sharaa told state television that many victims were on a school trip from Amman when torrential rains fell on the region on Thursday. On Friday morning, rescuers were still looking for survivors in the area.

A witness told Reuters that the families of the missing had also searched the hilly area after the search teams had suspended their operations overnight.

The body of a 12-year-old girl was found early Friday, said the director general of the Civil Defense, Mustafa al-Basaiah.

The Israeli army said it sent a relief team at the request of the Jordanian government.

Jordan declared three days of mourning to the victims.

King Abdullah II canceled a planned working visit to Bahrain, originally scheduled for Friday, where he was to be the keynote speaker at a security conference. In a message on his Twitter account, the monarch said that "the suffering of every father, mother and family is my suffering."

The low lying Dead Sea region, which is part of the Jordan Valley, is prone to sudden flooding as rainwater rushes from nearby hills. In April, 10 Israeli students were killed in a flood during a hike in the area.