Israeli killed, 34 injured in bus crash in Jordan
Driver loses control of Israeli tourist bus on its way to Petra due to bad weather.
By Zohar Blumenkrantz, Jack Khoury and Barak Ravid Tags: Israel news JordanOne Israeli was killed, and over 30 were injured on Friday as an Israeli tourist bus overturned near the Jordanian capital of Amman.
Ten of the victims were in serious condition.
The accident occurred amid heavy rainfall during an organized trip to the popular tourist site of Petra. The bus driver skidded on the wet road and overturned into a ditch.
Jordanian rescue services transferred the victims to several Jordanian hospitals in Amman and Madaba.
Delegates from the Israeli embassy in Jordan traveled to hospitals in Amman and Madaba to gather further details about the victims and the cause of the accident.
The passengers who were considered in moderate to serious condition were quickly airlifted to Israeli hospitals, Israel Radio reports.
A helicopter transferred four passengers, two of them in serious condition, to the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer.
Five others, who were moderately hurt, were airlifted to Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem.
Magen David Adom emergency medical personnel said that the rest of the victims were set to be transferred by Jordanian ambulances to the Israeli border at the Alenby crossing where they were to be relocated to Israeli hospitals in both Jerusalem and the northern town of Afula.
The Foreign Ministry set up headquarters to field inquiries by family and friends who are concerned for their acquaintances abroad.
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I was one of the first visitors from Israel to Jordan when the border was opened. I was warned not to go by Hamas declarations on the news. We went, and were greeted by friendly people who were very excited to meet us. This is similar to my many visits to Egypt. 90% of the poeple I met were supprtive of us, wanted to visit Israel, and were tired of Palestinian moaning. I was also born in a refugee camp. My family decided to strt a new life and not look back. Time for the Palestinians to stop bitching and make lives for themselves. If our neighbors would stop wasting all their resources on fighting Israel they might even be able to accomplish something more than the "world's largest hummus plate." They were so excited....it's sad.
for the way Jordan officials handled this crisis,Egypt for example would get into a beaurocratic panic and it would take weeks, before the wounded would get traetment, as we learned from the Ras Burka incident.
Not everything is political. Desert dwellers don't drive perfectly in rain. Southerners don't do well in snow. Nobody drives well under a foot of water or even 3 centimeters. LA is paralyzed by rain, Seattle by snow, Dallas by snow or ice, Atlanta by snow or ice.
I am not sure of the details but many drivers do not get enough breaks to rest and are over worked. This not to mention how dangerous it is to ride in pouring rain on potentially bad roads. More needs to be done world wide as so many people are lost to highway violence.
May they all have a speedy recovery.
how long do you think it will take before Jordanians start celebrating? its the 15th anniversary of the peace treaty and yet most people over here despise Israelis. Anyway I hope the rest make full recoveries.
It's bad enough when these reckless bus drivers kill tourists in Israel, now we have to export their "expertise"? Seriously, it is well past time when the Ministry of Transportation does a personality test on new applicants, as well as current bus drivers. From what I have read, more people have been killed from bus accidents alone in Israel than from all violent acts of politics and nationalism combined since the first Intifada. Just drive down any busy street with one in the lane next to you and you will know how dangerous they are, and these are just the Egged/Dan buses. The private operators have much less oversight and regulations to contend with.
those type of accident they do not come out of the blue