Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Video shows the moment flood waters pour into Petra

Flash floods in Jordan have killed 11 people and forced the evacuation of nearly 4,000 tourists from the ancient city of Petra.

Rescue teams and helicopters are searching for five people whose car was swept away in Madaba, south-west of the capital, Amman.

Downpours also triggered a state of emergency in the port city of Aqaba.

It comes two weeks after 21 people, mostly children, drowned in a flash flood in the Dead Sea area.

A civil defence spokeswoman told AFP news agency on Friday that a child was among those killed by floods in the Dabaa region, south of Amman.

A main road connecting the capital with the south of the country was also cut off, she added.

Image copyright Via Jordan Ministry of Communications Image caption Rescue teams and helicopters are searching for the missing

In Petra, floodwaters in some areas rose up to 4m (13ft), state TV reported. Footage showed people on the city's main road trying to stay clear of the water.

Evacuated tourists were taken to safe areas, government spokeswoman Jumana Ghunaimat said.

She said more heavy rain was expected on Saturday and residents in affected areas were being urged to evacuate their homes.

Jordan has suffered weeks of heavy rain. There was a public outcry last month after 18 children on a school trip were swept away, leading to the resignation of the country's education and tourism ministers.</s>PETRA, Jordan (AP) - Official media say the death toll from flash floods unleashed by heavy rains in Jordan has risen to 11, and that searches for missing people continue.

Saturday's reports came a day after floods struck in several areas of Jordan, including Petra, an ancient trading hub carved into rose-colored rock. Hundreds of Petra visitors ran for higher ground Friday as water surged through a narrow canyon leading to the Treasury, Petra's main attraction.

Government spokeswoman Jumana Ghuneimat and Civil Defense officials say the death toll rose early Saturday, after another body was found in the Madaba region south of the capital of Amman. They said searches for the missing are continuing.

Friday's floods came two weeks after flash floods near the Dead Sea killed 21 people, most of them children.

FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2017, file photo, tourists brave a rare rainstorm in plastic ponchos to peer at the Treasury, Jordan's most famous archaeological monument leftover from the Nabatean civilization in the kingdom's Petra archaeological park. Flash floods caused by heavy rain across Jordan killed people Friday, Nov. 9, 2018 and forced hundreds of tourists to seek higher ground in the kingdom's ancient city of Petra, the government spokeswoman said. (AP Photo/Sam McNeil, File)</s>AMMAN, Jordan — Jordan’s state news agency says four people have been killed and hundreds of tourists visiting the kingdom’s ancient city of Petra have been moved to higher ground after heavy rains caused flash floods in several locations.

The Petra agency quoted government spokeswoman Jumana Ghunaimat as saying two dozen people were injured and dozens more evacuated as homes were flooded. Elsewhere, rising water levels forced the closure of a desert highway.

She says several people are missing and that searches are continuing.

Petra says two women and two girls were killed in two separate incidents.

Friday’s floods came two weeks after 21 people, including middle school students, were killed in flash floods near the Dead Sea. Jordan’s tourism and education ministers resigned after the incident.</s>AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan's state news agency says four people have been killed and hundreds of tourists visiting the kingdom's ancient city of Petra have been moved to higher ground after heavy rains caused flash floods in several locations.</s>PETRA, Jordan (AP) — Official media say the death toll from flash floods unleashed by heavy rains in Jordan has risen to 11, and that searches for missing people continue.

Saturday's reports came a day after floods struck in several areas of Jordan, including Petra, an ancient trading hub carved into rose-colored rock. Hundreds of Petra visitors ran for higher ground Friday as water surged through a narrow canyon leading to the Treasury, Petra's main attraction.

Government spokeswoman Jumana Ghuneimat and Civil Defense officials say the death toll rose early Saturday, after another body was found in the Madaba region south of the capital of Amman. They said searches for the missing are continuing.

Friday's floods came two weeks after flash floods near the Dead Sea killed 21 people, most of them children.</s>Flash floods killed 11 people in Jordan and forced nearly 4,000 tourists to flee the famed ancient desert city of Petra, emergency services said on Saturday.

Search teams were scouring valleys near the historic hill town of Madaba for two young girls still missing after Friday's floods, civil defence spokesman Iyad Amru told state television in an update.

Five people have already been confirmed dead in the area southwest of the capital Amman after torrential rains swept the south of the kingdom.

To the east, three people were killed near Dabaa on the Desert Highway, one of Jordan's three main north-south arteries, while one was killed near Maan in the south.

Government spokeswoman Jumana Ghneimat said the highway was cut in both directions.

The Jordanian army deployed helicopters and all-terrain vehicles to help with the search and rescue operation.

A rescuer was also among the dead, the civil defence spokesman said.

State television said the waters had reached as high as four metres (13 feet) in parts of the red-rock ravine city of Petra and the adjacent Wadi Musa desert.

It broadcast footage of tourists sheltering on high ground on both sides of the access road to Jordan's biggest attraction.

The government spokeswoman said 3,762 tourists were evacuated.

Designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1985, Petra draws hundreds of thousands of tourists a year to its rock-hewn treasury, temples and mausoleums.

Its buildings have been used as sets for several Hollywood blockbusters including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

The latest deaths come after October 25 flash floods in the Dead Sea region of the kingdom killed 21 people, most of them children on a school trip.

Jordan's education and tourism ministers both resigned last week over failings in the government's response to those floods.

The education ministry ordered schools closed nationwide on Saturday amid warnings of more heavy rains.</s>Flash floods killed seven people in Jordan on Friday, the government and civil defence said, adding that five more people were missing.

The bad weather also saw over 3,700 tourists evacuated by the authorities from the world famous historic site of Petra.

The deaths come more than two weeks after October 25 floods in the Dead Sea region of Jordan cost 21 lives, most of them children on a school trip.

The latest downpours hit the south of the desert kingdom claiming seven lives, government spokeswoman Jumana Ghneimat said.

A civil defence source told AFP that five other people were missing.

"Heavy rainfall in the Dabaa region (south of Amman) prompted the closure of the desert highway (leading to the south of the country) in both directions after the area was flooded," said Ghneimat.

She said two women and a child were among those killed in the floods.

The civil defence source said another child died in the Madaba area, also south of Amman, when the car the child was in was caught up in waters.

"Rescuers are searching for five people who are missing in that area," the source said.

Jordanian army troops deployed helicopters and armoured vehicles to help search for the missing and assist residents threatened by the floods, state television reported.

Authorities evacuated 3,762 tourists from the ancient city of Petra, an archeological site and key tourist destination in southern Jordan, due to the bad weather, Ghneimat said.

State television said that flood water in the red-rock city of Petra and in some areas of the nearby Wadi Mussa desert had risen to between three and four metres high and flooded the main roads.

It broadcast footage showing people standing on both sides of the main road in Petra and along the desert highway trying to stay clear of the floods.

Jordan's ministry of education also ordered schools closed across the country on Sunday.

Ghneimat urged residents of the stricken areas and low-lying regions to evacuate their homes, saying that heavy rains were expected to continue to lash Jordan Friday night and Saturday.

Jordan's education and tourism ministers resigned last week after the deadly school-bus accident in the flood-hit Dead Sea region.</s>The death toll from flash floods caused by heavy rain in central Jordan has risen to 11, official media said on Saturday.

The media said searches for missing people were continuing after the floods struck in several areas of the country, including the popular tourist destination of Petra.

Some 3,500 tourists had to be evacuated from Petra on Friday, with water surging through parts of the famed ancient trading center. No casualties in the city were reported.

Government spokeswoman Jumana Ghuneimat on Friday called on residents living in low-lying regions to evacuate their homes, according to the kingdom's official Petra news agency.

She warned that heavy rains were likely to continue.

Earlier, Ghuneimat said those who died came from the town of Madaba, which lies southwest of the capital, Amman.

The deluge came two weeks after flash floods triggered by torrential rain swept away a bus carrying children and their teachers from a private school in Amman, killing 21 people, mostly pupils. The victims had been on a trip to hot springs near the Dead Sea.

Two government ministers resigned in connection with the disaster.

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.</s>AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Flash floods caused by heavy rain across Jordan killed nine people Friday and forced hundreds of tourists to seek higher ground in the kingdom's ancient city of Petra, the government spokeswoman said.

About two dozen people were hurt and dozens more evacuated from their homes in several locations in the kingdom, as flood waters rose rapidly.

Amateur video posted online showed a powerful torrent rushing through the steep, narrow canyon through which visitors reach the Treasury, the main attraction in Petra, an ancient trading hub carved from rose-colored rock.

The video showed several hundred visitors crowded on a patch of higher ground near the Treasury as local guides helped one woman through surging water toward safety.

"We made it," she shouted as she rejoined her group.

Government spokeswoman Jumana Ghuneimat said two dozen people were injured and dozens more evacuated as homes were flooded in several locations. Elsewhere, rising water levels forced the closure of a desert highway.

Friday's floods came just two weeks after 21 people, many of them middle school students, were killed in a flash flood near the Jordanian shore of the Dead Sea. The education and tourism ministers resigned after the incident.

Torrential rains and flooding began Friday afternoon. In Wadi Musa, the town next to Petra in southern Jordan, water surged from nearby mountains into a dry riverbed running through the community.

Ahmed Shamaseen, 29, owner of the Petra Harmony guest house, told The Associated Press he heard a thunderous sound, ran outside and saw water carrying tree stumps, rocks and debris rushing through the riverbed toward ancient Petra. He said several shops near the Petra visitors' center were badly damaged by flooding.

Shamaseen said a couple from the Netherlands and their one-year-old child were touring Petra when the flooding began. He says the couple told him after their return to the guesthouse that they had to climb to higher ground to evade the water.

Ghuneimat said more than 3,600 tourists visited Petra on Friday, and that efforts were continuing to evacuate them.

She said nine people were killed Friday in other areas of Jordan.

In one incident in a village in the Madaba region, south of the capital of Amman, flooding swept away a vehicle carrying members of one family, Civil Defense officials said. An 11-year-old girl was killed, another girl was seriously injured and divers were searching for three other members of the family. One of the divers involved in rescue efforts was killed.

In the Dabaa area, also south of Amman, two women and a girl were killed in the floods which also forced the closure of a desert highway. A large number of cars were stuck, Ghuneimat said.

Associated Press writer Fares Akram in Gaza City and Omar Akour in Amman contributed to this report.</s>, according to Al Arabiya news channel correspondent.The Jordanian civil defense rescued a young girl and recovered the body of her sister after heavy flash floods swept their father's vehicle in the Malih area of the governorate of Madaba, while 11 others were injured in different areas of the country.A spokesman for the Civil Defense Iyad al-Amro, told Al Arabiya that members of the Civil Defense were searching for three other missing members of the surviving child's family.Jumana Ghunaimat, Minister of State for Media Affairs and government spokesperson, said that the security departments are coordinating the rescue operations in more than one area which had heavy rainfall, noting that 3,762 tourists were evacuated in the city of Petra in southern Jordan.The southern part of Jordan witnessed flash floods due to torrential rain, especially in the areas of Maan, Wadi Musa, Petra tourist city, and the provinces of Madaba and al-Balqa.The Minister of the Interior, the Minister of State for Public Information, the Government's spokesperson and other senior officials gathered at the National Center for Security and Crisis Management to monitor the situation.
Flash floods caused by heavy rain in Petra, Jordan, kill 11 people while 24 others are injured.