The Latest: At least 7 dead in Arizona flash flooding
By Associated Press
Jul 16, 2017 4:51 PM CDT

TONTO NATIONAL FOREST, Ariz. (AP) — The Latest on deadly flash flooding in a national forest in Arizona (all times local):

2 p.m.

An Arizona sheriff says at least seven people have died in flash flooding at a popular swimming hole.

Gila County Sheriff J. Adam Shepherd said crews are still searching for others who are missing after a wall of water swept through the area inside Tonto National Forest.

Water Wheel Fire and Medical District Fire Chief Ron Sattelmaier said more than a hundred people were in the Cold Springs Swimming Hole on Saturday afternoon when a severe thunderstorm pounded down on a nearby remote area that had been burned by a recent wildfire.

A woman who was hiking to the swimming hole said she saw people clinging to trees after the water rushed down a normally calm creek near the trail.

Video Disa Alexander shot shortly after the flood showed a man in a tree holding his baby as water rushed around him. His wife was a short ways away from him, also clinging to a tree.

Alexander says there was no warning before the wall of water hit.

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12 p.m.

A rural fire chief says at least four people were found dead and about a dozen more are missing after flash flooding poured over a popular swimming area inside the Tonto National Forest in central Arizona.

Water Wheel Fire and Medical District Fire Chief Ron Sattelmaier said more than a hundred people were in the Cold Springs Swimming Hole Saturday afternoon when a severe thunderstorm pounded down on a nearby remote area that had been burned over by a recent wildfire.

Three bodies were recovered Saturday and another was found Sunday morning. The deaths include at least one child.

Four people rescued by helicopter Saturday were taken to the hospital for hypothermia.

About a dozen other people remain unaccounted for.

This happened about an hour and half's drive from Phoenix.