DEAD AND MISSING IN JORDAN FLOODS

Children among victims as heavy rains bring chaos to Dead Sea region

Flash floods in Jordan killed at least 14 people, injured 22 and left more than 20 missing near the Dead Sea on Thursday, including schoolgirls and teachers who were on a field trip.

Rescuers from the Jordanian civil defence and the army were working late into the night to locate survivors in the Zarqa Maeen area of the Dead Sea, an area known for its gorges opening up on to the Dead Sea and water springs.

As of Thursday evening, civil defence officials said they had rescued 22 people, including children, who were sent to hospitals in Amman, Salt and Shouneh in the Jordan Valley.

With some of the rescued in critical condition and more than 20 people still missing, the death toll was expected to rise.

The Jordanian government said the group of 37 seventhand eighth-grade pupils from the girls school, with seven chaperones including teachers and parents, visited the Zarqa Maeen area for a field trip despite repeated official warnings about a heavy storm forecast to hit the kingdom on Thursday.

Witnesses told local media that the group was having lunch in the valley near the water’s edge when heavy rains about 1pm triggered a flash flood of mud, rock and debris.

Jordananian Prime Minister Omar Razzaz arrived at the site, about 70 kilometres from Amman, early on Thursday evening to direct the recovery efforts, which included helicopters and marines.

Civil defence officials said rescuers were dealing with a larger than expected number of victims and extra ambulances and stretchers were needed.

Education Minister Azmi Mahafzah told state-run Jordan TV that the school had organised a field trip to the Dead Sea before the rainstorm was forecast.

Not only did the school proceed with the trip against government warnings, but the pupils and teachers had gone down the wadi and near the water, which was “not allowed”, the minister said.