Details are emerging about some of the children and the counsellor who died in flash flooding while staying at a Christian camp in Texas.
They’re among at least 27 who were killed at Camp Mystic when heavy rains caused the Guadalupe River to overflow and engulf their cabins in Kerr County on Friday.
The death toll now stands at 109, but 161 people are still missing, including five children from the camp.
The family of two sisters, Blair and Brooke Harber who were 13 and 11, say they were holding hands when rescuers found them 15 miles downstream.
In a statement, their aunt Jennifer Harber said the sisters had been staying in a cabin with their grandparents Mike and Charlene close to the river – they still haven’t been found. The girls’ parents, Annie and RJ, who were staying further away from the water survived.
In the statement Ms Harber said ‘Brooke texted my brother, her grandmother and grandfather on Annie's side saying 'I love you' at 3.30am.
‘My nieces were upstairs in the loft. They were believers and one of their favourite classes was religion.
‘Blair and I had a conversation about God and heaven two weeks earlier. They had their rosaries with them. Their bodies were found yesterday afternoon 15 miles away in Kerrville. When they were found their hands were locked together.’
She added: ‘We are beyond devastated and so heartbroken. Prayers are much appreciated and what we need at this time.’
8 year old twin sisters Hanna Lawrence and Rebecca Lawrence are among the other Christian children who died in the tragedy. Their parents John and Lucy said in a statement: ‘Hanna and Rebecca brought so much joy to us, to their big sister Harper, and to so many others…
‘We will find ways to keep that joy, and to continue to spread it for them. But we are devastated that the bond we shared with them, and that they shared with each other, is now frozen in time.”
18 year old Chloe Childress was spending her Summer mentoring and counselling the girls at Camp Mystic. Her family said she ‘lived a beautiful life that saturated those around her with contagious joy, unending grace, and abiding faith.’
Among the other children who died are Mary Grace Baker and 9 year old Lainey Landry who had both recently celebrated their first Holy Communion.
9 year old friends Eloise Peck and Lila Bonner also lost their lives, along with 8 year olds Sarah Marsh and Hadley Hanna. Hadley’s father Cody Crossman wrote on Facebook that he ‘will cherish all of our time together. There is an angel smiling down on all of us.’
Prayer vigils have been held across Texas since the tragedy which saw a month’s worth of rain fall in just a few hours in the early hours of the morning.
Rescuers are continuing to search for those still unaccounted for.