BFF-24 Children among 13 Pakistanis killed in Jordan fire

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BFF-24

JORDAN-PAKISTAN-ACCIDENT-FIRE

Children among 13 Pakistanis killed in Jordan fire

AMMAN, Dec 2, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Thirteen Pakistanis including eight children
died early Monday when a blaze tore through their corrugated metal home in a
rural area of western Jordan, authorities said.

Rescue services said “13 people died and three others were injured when
fire broke out in a corrugated metal house” on a farm in South Shona, around
50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Amman.

The makeshift building was home to two Pakistani families working as
agricultural labourers, they said in a statement.

Fire service spokesman Iyad al-Omari told state television channel Al-
Mamlaka that eight children, four women and a man had died in the blaze at
around 2:00 am, which was likely caused by an electrical fault.

Jordan is home to thousands of Pakistanis, many of them agricultural
labourers.

House fires in Jordan are often caused by the use of cheap but dangerous
forms of heating while the occupants are asleep.

BSS/AFP/SSS/1531 hrs