Boy Scout killed in flooding at New Mexico ranch

A Boy Scout was killed when a flash flood triggered by heavy rains swept through a canyon on a New Mexico ranch where he was camping, authorities said on Sunday.

The scout was discovered missing on Saturday morning and later discovered dead, according to a statement issued by the Philmont Scout Ranch.

A flash flood swept through a canyon on the ranch at about 4:30 a.m. local time where a group of 12 scouts and leaders was camping, according to local television station KOB-TV.

The boy was swept away in flood waters in the North Ponil Canyon, the New Mexico station said.

His identity and age have not been released.

The Philmont ranch was hit with heavy rainfall early on Saturday that contributed to rising streams and flooding across the property, the ranch statement said.

Everyone else was accounted for and there were no other injuries, it said.

A spokesman for the New Mexico State Police could not immediately be reached for comment.

Some 20,000 Boy Scouts visit the 214-square-mile Philmont ranch in northern New Mexico annually for backpacking, camping and other programs, according to its website.

The scout's death comes less than a week after the body of former White House chef Walter Scheib was found off the Yerba Canyon Trail, north of Taos. An autopsy determined that Scheib, 61, died of accidental drowning in a mountain stream.

(Reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst)