The children, ages four and seven, were swept downstream by a flash flood after the Rio Ruidoso river rose to a record-setting 20 feet.

The two children were identified as Charlotte Trotter, 4, and Sebastian Trotter, 7, according to their aunt Tiffanie Wyatt. She said their father, Sebastian Trotter, a solder based at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, and their mother, Stephanie, both suffered serious injuries but survived and were receiving medical treatment at a hospital in Texas.

Two children from El Paso are among three people who died in raging flash floods that struck the mountain forest resort town of Ruidoso, New Mexico, the town's mayor said.