Anxious relatives toured the Arkansas campsite where their loved ones were swept away by a flash flood and saw for themselves the steep terrain that made escaping the rising water in darkness so difficult.

US rescuers today resumed the desperate search for dozens of campers still missing after flash floods swept through a busy Arkansas campsite, killing at least 17.

FLASH FLOODS swept through campsites in an Arkansas national forest yesterday, killing at least 16 people, police said, as a massive rescue operation was launched in the rugged mountainous area.