Putin offers condolences to king of Jordan over Dead Sea flood casualties
MOSCOW. Oct 26 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a message of condolence to King Abdullah II of Jordan in connection with the deaths of bus passengers, most of them are children, in a flash flood on the Dead Sea coast, the presidential website said on Friday.
"Accept profound condolences over the deaths of the tourist bus passengers in the tragic accident on the Dead Sea coast. It is especially regretful that children are the majority of the casualties of this natural disaster. I ask you to convey the words of frank sympathy and support to the families of the casualties, and the wishes of the soonest recovery to all of the injured," the message reads.
Twenty people, most of them are children, died in the flooding of a bus with school students in Jordan, the AP news agency reported.
The accident involving the flooding of the bus has occurred on Thursday. Local rescue services have begun an operation involving Israeli troops. The search operation for the survivals continued in the Jordan Valley on Friday.
About 30 were hurt; several more people are missing in the flooding.