At least 18 people, mainly schoolchildren and teachers, have died after flash floods swept away a school bus near the Dead Sea in Jordan.
A group of teachers and children were on a school trip when the floods struck, Jordan’s military has 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.
34 people were also rescued in the major operation to find survivors.
A witness said relatives have raced to Shonuah hospital, near the resort area where the bus went missing, to search for details about missing children.
Mr Al-Zaben initially put the death toll at 10, but the Hala Akhbar website, linked to the military, later reported the number of those killed had increased, and 22 were confirmed as 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.
