Sixteen people have been killed and three more are missing in Saudi Arabia after downpours caused flash floods in several areas of the desert kingdom, the civil defense authorities said on Wednesday, the AFP news agency reported.

Two others died in flash floods in neighboring Oman, local media reported, as cloudbursts swept across most Gulf countries.

The official Saudi SPA state news agency quoted a civil defense statement as saying people died in several areas including in the capital Riyadh, Baha in the south, Hail in the north and in the west.

Earlier on Wednesday, the kingdom said 13 people had died and four were missing but later the civil defense statement updated the toll saying “the number of dead bodies retrieved until midday has risen to 16”.

It urged people to avoid wadi valleys and plains that have been flooded by heavy rainfall that began on Friday.

The vast Arabian Peninsula country has not experienced such a high volume of rainfall for 25 years.