HOUSTON, (Reuters) – Flash floods swept through a  campground in western Arkansas overnight, killing at least 20  people as they slept and leaving an estimated 36 missing, state  officials said yesterday.

A wall of water, triggered by heavy rains that swelled the  Little Missouri River to 20 feet (6 metres), caught victims  asleep in their tents at the Albert Pike campground in the  Ouachita Mountains west of Little Rock, authorities said.

The death toll hit 20, according to a spokesman for  Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe, who traveled to the scene of the  flooding.

Children were among the dead.

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.

Authorities were using boats and helicopters to search the  remote area for survivors, he said.