Toll from Jordan school bus horror rises to 19

Jordanian rescuers searching the Dead Sea area for survivors of flash floods have raised the death toll to 19.

An injured Jordanian boy in hospital yesterday. Picture: AFP

Jordanian rescuers searching the Dead Sea area for survivors of flash floods have found the body of a 12-year-old girl, raising the death toll to 19.

The body was recovered yesterday, a day after primary school students and teachers visiting hot springs in the area were swept away by the torrent.

Civil defence officials said the surge, caused by heavy rains, carried some for several kilometres towards the Dead Sea.

Mustafa al-Basaiah, the director general of the kingdom’s Civil Defence, said 13 of the dead and 21 of about three dozen wounded were primary school students.

He added some people were still missing.

A complex rescue operation involving helicopters, divers, sniffer dogs and hundreds of searchers continued into the night on Thursday. Searches ­resumed early yesterday.

● Russian investigators say at least six people have died in flash floods in the country’s south.

The Investigative Committee said in a statement yesterday that six people died in Russia’s Krasnodar region when torrential rains and flash floods hit the area on Wednesday.

One other person is believed to be missing.

More than 20 trains running along the Black Sea coast were delayed after a section of a rail bridge collapse, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at nearby stations.

Emergency officials offered temporary accommodation and food to the passengers.

AP