World

At least 20 dead, many missing in Arkansas flood

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-06-12 10:41

The flooded premises of the Arrowhead Cabin & Canoe Rental is seen in Caddo Gap, Arkansas in this frame grab taken from video footage captured June 11, 2010. [Agencies]

HOUSTON - Flash floods swept through a campground in western Arkansas overnight, killing at least 20 people as they slept and leaving an estimated 36 missing, state officials said on Friday.

A wall of water, triggered by heavy rains that swelled the Little Missouri River to 20 feet (6 metres), caught victims asleep in their tents at the Albert Pike campground in the Ouachita Mountains west of Little Rock, authorities said.

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The death toll hit 20, according to a spokesman for Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe, who traveled to the scene of the flooding.

Children were among the dead.

Television images showed cabins reduced to rubble and mobile homes and vehicles overturned by the waters.

"There was a significant amount of rainfall last night and water quickly rose along the campsites," said Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler.

Authorities were using boats and helicopters to search the remote area for survivors, he said.

A spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management told CNN that some 36 people were missing. There could have been up to 300 people in the camp ground, Beebe told CNN, citing Red Cross figures.