14 killed as Jordan flash flood sweeps away students on trip

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Flash floods swept away a group of teachers and students who were on a school trip near the Dead Sea on Thursday, killing 14 and wounding 22, a website linked to Jordan's military said.

The students from a private school and their adult chaperones were touring near the Dead Sea when heavy rains led to flash floods in the area, Health Minister Ghazi al-Zaben and official media said.

Al-Zaben initially put the death toll at 10, but the Hala Akhbar website, linked to the military, later reported that 14 members of the group were killed and 22 injured.

The Israeli military said it dispatched an elite search and rescue team to the area at the request of the Jordanian government.

Jordan's state news agency Petra said Prime Minister Omar Razzaz was at the scene to oversee the rescue mission. </s> The Latest: Israel says 9 teens died in flash floods

JERUSALEM (AP) — The Latest on the deadly flash floods in Israel (all times local):

Israel's rescue service says nine teenagers have died in flash floods while hiking south of the Dead Sea.

It says they were all 18 years old. Israeli media say that eight of the fatalities were female and one was male. Reports say another hiker is still missing.

Earlier, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said 25 students in a pre-army course were "caught off guard" and some were "washed away" Thursday by heavy rains as they were hiking in the area.

The Dead Sea, the world's lowest point at about 1,400 feet below sea level, is surrounded by desert and generally arid cliffs. Rain can come rushing down the steep descents, causing sudden and violent torrents in otherwise dry spots.

Israeli police say several young people are missing and others have been injured after a group of hikers was caught in flash floods south of the Dead Sea.

Spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said on Thursday that 25 students in a pre-army course were "caught off guard" and some were "washed away" by heavy rains as they were hiking in the area.

Police and army helicopters are searching for the missing. Israeli media says nine of the injured are fighting for their lives.

The Dead Sea, the world's lowest point at about 1,400 feet below sea level, is surrounded by desert and generally arid cliffs. Rain can come rushing down the steep descents, causing sudden and violent torrents in otherwise dry spots.

Heavy rainfall has fallen sporadically over the past two days. </s> AMMAN: Eight school pupils died Thursday when their bus was swept away by flash floods near the Dead Sea in Jordan, emergency services said. A further 11 students were injured in the incident, said an official from the civil defence, Jordan´s fire service, who asked not to be named. "Heavy rains caused a flash flood close to the Dead Sea that washed away a school bus carrying 37 students and seven minders," the official said. - </s> AMMAN (Reuters) - At least five school children died and 16 were missing after flash floods engulfed a spot near Jordan’s Dead Sea on Thursday where around 40 children and their teachers were on an outing, two civil defense sources said.

A major rescue operation is underway and search teams have rescued 11 people some of whom are in a serious condition, the sources told Reuters. </s> AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan’s state news agency says four people have been killed and hundreds of tourists visiting the kingdom’s ancient city of Petra have been moved to higher ground after heavy rains caused flash floods in several locations.

The Petra agency quoted government spokeswoman Jumana Ghunaimat as saying two dozen people were injured and dozens more evacuated as homes were flooded. Elsewhere, rising water levels forced the closure of a desert highway.

She says several people are missing and that searches are continuing.

Petra says two women and two girls were killed in two separate incidents.

Friday’s floods came two weeks after 21 people, including middle school students, were killed in flash floods near the Dead Sea. Jordan’s tourism and education ministers resigned after the incident. </s> Flash floods killed nine Israeli teenagers who were hiking south of the Dead Sea on Thursday, Israel's rescue service said.

The casualties were all 18 years old. Israeli media said eight of the fatalities were female and one was male.

Police said another hiker is still missing.

Earlier, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said 25 students in a pre-army course were "caught off guard" and some were "washed away" by heavy rains while they were hiking in the area.

He said 15 people were rescued.

The downpour caused parts of Israel's security barrier with the West Bank to collapse, Rosenfeld added.

Police and army helicopters were deployed to search for the missing member of the group. But search operations were suspended by nightfall until the morning due to harsh conditions, police said.

The Dead Sea, the world's lowest point at about 1,400 feet below sea level, is surrounded by desert and generally arid cliffs. Rain can come rushing down the steep descents, causing sudden and violent torrents in otherwise dry spots.

Heavy rainfall has fallen sporadically over the past two days. </s> The death toll from flash floods in Jordan's Dead Sea area has risen to at least 21, according to the country's civil defence, as search and rescue operations continued for a second day.

The victims were mostly schoolchildren from the capital, Amman, who were visiting the area on a field trip, Petra news agency reported on Friday.

They were swept away when a heavy downpour on Thursday sent flash floods towards the area where the students and other picnickers were sitting.

At least 35 people were injured and a nearby bridge also collapsed, according to local media reports.

Jordanian civil defence said in a statement that some people are still unaccounted for, raising fears that the death toll could rise.

Doctor Mahmoud Zureigat, general manager of al-Basheer public hospital in Amman where the victims were transported, said the dead arrived with severe injuries to their bodies.

"Though the final cause of death was drowning, all of the victims however suffered from broken bones and other injuries because they were hit by huge boulders as they were being swept away by the flash flood," he told Al Jazeera.

Zureigat said almost all of the dead have been claimed by their families.

Jordanian Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz was on the scene to oversee the rescue mission on Friday. He said he would form a fact-finding committee to investigate the circumstances of the deaths, according to Petra.

For his part, King Abdullah II cancelled a trip to Bahrain to follow the rescue operations, ordered flags to be lowered to half-mast and announced a three-day mourning period.

The king expressed his "anger and "great sadness" in a Twitter post on Friday and promised to hold those responsible to account.

"My sorrow and pain are severe and great, and I am only as angry with all those who failed to take action that could have prevented this painful incident," he said.

"I console Jordan and myself for losing members of my large family. The pain and suffering of every family is my own pain and suffering as well. We belong to God and to him we return."

'Accountability'

On the day of the school's field trip, Jordan's national weather and government agencies had issued severe weather warnings.

Jordanian schools must submit detailed plans of their intended field trips and obtain the Ministry of Education's approval before going on a trip.

Education Minister Azmi Mahaftha said the private school - Amman-based Victoria College - was responsible, not his ministry, for "providing wrong information on their field trip application", according to local media reports.

Meanwhile, several people from the area where the floods hit told Al Jazeera that they had repeatedly complained about the bridge that collapsed to the Ministry of Public Works and Housing. They said that no action had been nor had the bridge been inspected.

Hasan al-Ghwairi, a local resident, said the bridge and the roads in the area were in poor condition.

"Despite our protests and asking for repairs, the government never paid attention to us," he said.

Al Jazeera contacted the Jordanian government for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.

"We will investigate this tragic incident and hold those responsible to account and bring them to justice if found responsible," Ghazi al-Hawamleh, a member of parliament from the southern city of Tafelieh, told Al Jazeera.

He added that there must be accountability for anyone found to be responsible for the bridge's collapse, which could include the construction contractor and the minister of public works, who would have authorised the construction.

Jordanians took to social media to express condolences to the families of the victims while criticising the government for poor infrastructure in the country and a lack of accountability.

Follow Ali Younes on Twitter: @ali_reports </s> DEAD SEA, Jordan: At least 18 people, mainly school children and teachers, were killed on Thursday (Oct 25) by a flash flood during a school outing near Jordan's Dead Sea in one of the worst disasters in the kingdom in years, rescuers and hospital workers said.

Thirty-four people were rescued in a major operation involving police helicopters and hundreds of army troops, police chief Brigadier General Farid al Sharaa told state television. Some of those rescued were in a serious condition.

Many of those killed were children under 14. A number of families picnicking in the popular destination were also among the dead and injured, rescuers said, without giving a breakdown of numbers.

Hundreds of families and relatives converged on Shounah hospital a few kilometres from the resort area. Relatives sobbed and searched for details about the missing children, a witness said.

The flooding occurred after heavy rainfall, the first such rains after the end of the summer season.

Prime Minister Omar Razzaz said it appeared the school had broken regulations by the ministry of education that forbade trips to the Dead Sea due to bad weather and pledged an investigation that would hold anyone found responsible for any wrongdoing accountable.

Razzaz said divers and civil defence search teams would be conducting search operations deep inside the Dead Sea throughout the night.

A father of one of the survivors said a bus with 37 school children and seven teachers had been on a trip to the resort area. They were caught in a narrow stream as sudden torrential rainstorm flooded the area.

"The children tried to escape the floods by going to the bus but its doors were closed," said Abu Yousef told reporters.

"The teachers tried to save the children but the floods intensity made it impossible," he added saying the children were swept to the shores of the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth.

King Abdullah cancelled a trip to Bahrain to follow the rescue operations, state media said.

Neighbouring Israel sent search-and-rescue helicopters to assist, an Israeli military statement said, adding the team dispatched at Amman's request was operating on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea.

Civil defence spokesman Captain Iyad al Omar told Reuters the number of casualties was expected to rise. Rescue workers using flashlights were searching the cliffs near the shore of the Dead Sea where bodies had been found.

There have been deadly incidents involving flash floods in Jordan in the past and in 1963, 23 French tourists were swept away by flash floods when they were trapped in the ancient Petra city. </s> JERUSALEM (AP) — Flash floods killed nine Israeli teenagers who were hiking south of the Dead Sea on Thursday, Israel's rescue service said.

The casualties were all 18 years old. Israeli media said eight of the fatalities were female and one was male. Police said another hiker is still missing.

Earlier, spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said 25 students in a pre-army course were "caught off guard" and some were "washed away" by heavy rains while they were hiking in the area.

The horrific incident was seen as a national tragedy in Israel.

President Reuven Rivlin said on Twitter: "The state of Israel is mourning the loss of young promising lives in the heavy disaster." He said Israel "embraces" the grieving families and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

The downpour caused parts of Israel's security barrier with the West Bank to collapse, Rosenfeld also said.

Police and army helicopters were deployed to search for the missing member of the group. But search operations were suspended by nightfall until the morning due to harsh conditions, police said.

The Dead Sea, the world's lowest point at about 1,400 feet below sea level, is surrounded by desert and generally arid cliffs. Rain can come rushing down the steep descents, causing sudden and violent torrents in otherwise dry spots.

Heavy rainfall has fallen sporadically over the past two days.
Flash floods near the Dead Sea in Jordan kill at least 21 people including 19 children on a school trip and injure 43 others.