UPDATE - Flashflood leaves one dead, three missing in NW Jordan

UPDATES WITH GOV'T STATEMENT

By Laith Joneidi

AMMAN (AA) – A seven-year-old girl was killed and three other people went missing on Friday when their vehicle was swept away by a flashflood in Jordan’s northwestern Madaba province, according to local officials.

Iyad al-Omar, a spokesman for Jordan’s Civil-Defense Agency, told Anadolu Agency that the incident had occurred in Madaba’s Malih district.

“There were five passengers in the car,” al-Omar said. “So far, we’ve only found one survivor, another girl.”

Civil-defense teams, he added, were currently searching for the three other people who still remain unaccounted for.

According to government spokeswoman Jumana Ghunaimat, 11 other people were injured by the flashflood.

“The authorities have since evacuated 3,760 tourists from the nearby Petra area to higher ground,” she said.

Last month, at least 21 people were killed in a rash of severe flashflooding in Jordan’s western Dead Sea region.