Flash floods have swept through a camping park in western Arkansas, killing at least 16 people.
State officials said that the people died as they slept and that an unknown number of people are still missing.
A wall of water, caused by heavy rains that swelled the Little Missouri River to six metres, caught victims asleep in their tents at the Albert Pike campground in the Ouachita Mountains west of Little Rock.
The death toll was lowered to 16 from the 20 that was previously reported, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management said.
She added that officials did not know how many people were missing 'as we don't know how many people were there'.
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.
Chad Stover, spokesman for the State Emergency Operations Center, said search and rescue operations are ongoing.
He could not confirm earlier reports that children were among the dead, saying the ages of the victims have not been released.
'Water came all the way up to our bed,' said Joe Yoakum, who was staying with his family in cabins in the area.
They left before the water could threaten them and other witnesses said they saw dead cows floating in the water.
