A 13-year-old boy has died after he was trapped in a storm drain in Maryland during heavy rainfall and flooding on the east coast, officials said.

Kids were playing in the rain on Thursday in a common area between apartment buildings in Mount Airy, a town of about 10,000 people about 30 miles (48km) west of Baltimore, but flood waters rushed in and the boy was swept into the pipe, according to Mount Airy volunteer fire company spokesperson Doug Alexander.

People tried to rescue the boy, but the water pressure was too strong and kept pushing him further into the pipe, he said. After the rain slowed, they were able to