Israeli rescue teams fly to Jordan after flash flooding kills 17, mostly children; several missing or injured

IDF and civil search and rescue teams have flown to Jordan after flash flooding claimed the lives of 17 people, mostly schoolchildren. Several are missing.

By TPS and World Israel News

IDF and civil rescue teams have been dispatched to Jordan after a bus carrying 37 schoolchildren and seven teachers was swept away by flash floods on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea. At least 17 are dead; more than 20 were injured. Several are missing.

The IDF sent helicopters and soldiers from the Air Force’s elite 669 search and rescue unit following a request from the Jordanian government.

“We are currently assisting Jordan in rescuing a bus full of children swept away in a flood on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea. IAF helicopters full of IDF search and rescue soldiers have been deployed,” the IDF said in a statement.

“The troops were sent at the request of the Jordanian government. The soldiers, led by the commanding officer of Unit 669, are assisting in locating the missing in spite of the adverse weather conditions,” the statement said.

Earlier this week, Jordan announced its withdrawal from part of the 1994 peace agreement with Israel, saying the agricultural areas of Naharayim and Zofar in the Jordan Valley, cultivated by Israeli farmers over the past 25 years, will be reclaimed by the kingdom. Jerusalem was reportedly shocked by the announcement, as it essentially constitutes a downgrade of the peace treaty between the two countries.