(Raises death toll, adds details)
BEIJING, July 12 (Reuters) - Fourteen hikers were killed and five are missing after being swept away by a flash flood in a scenic gorge near the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing, Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.
About 400 rescuers worked overnight at the Tanzhangxia Gorge to rescue 16 other members of the group of 35 men and women, who had organised the hike through a travel website.
A sudden afternoon rainstorm triggered a wall of water several metres high, which swept the group several kilometres through the gorge.
One of the hikers, Deng Ke, survived by grabbing a strand of bamboo, Xinhua said.
Urban Chinese are increasingly using the Internet to organise hikes, auto rallies and other excursions, activities that would have been very rare before the rise in incomes and China's car culture boom over the last decade. (Reporting by Lucy Hornby; Editing by Louise Ireland)
14 people have died after heavy rain and flash flooding hit a gorge near the south western city of Chongqing, China. It is reported that a group of hikers entered a forbidden area of the Tanzhangxia Gorge along with a guide. 16 members of the group of 35 were rescued but 14 died and 5 are still missing. 

The flooding was caused by a heavy rainstorm on Saturday which caused a wall of water to trigger down the gorge. One survivor said the water was “several meters high”. Deng Ke survived by grapping a bamboo shoot. 

Around 400 rescue workers are helping the rescue effort and looking for any possible survivors. Several homes and streets were flooded during the rainstorm despite the effort of the villagers who built temporary flood guards. 

Rescue efforts are ongoing.