Woman and niece killed as flash floods sweep away car in Jordan
Driver survives after jumping from vehicle as floodwaters carry it over 100 metres
Dubai: A 37-year-old woman and her 27-year-old niece died after flash floods swept their vehicle off a bridge in Jordan's Madaba governorate, carrying it more than 100 metres into a valley, local media reported.
The tragedy occurred near the Sayagha Bridge as the vehicle was travelling towards Madaba when torrents of water surged from higher ground following rainfall.
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According to local media reports, the rain had initially been light around sunset before floodwaters intensified rapidly, trapping the vehicle and sweeping it off the bridge into the valley below.
The driver, who was the woman's brother and the younger victim's uncle, managed to escape by jumping from the vehicle and reaching a nearby rock. Civil Defence teams and local residents subsequently rescued him.
Search teams launched an operation along the floodwater channel, combing through mud, trees and debris to locate the two missing women.
The body of one victim was recovered on the first day of the search on Wednesday, approximately seven kilometres from the accident site. The second body was found the following day, about five kilometres along the floodwater channel.
The older victim was a mother of four young children, the youngest just 18 months old. Her niece was a university graduate working as a teacher under Jordan's supplementary education programme.
