Some 1,700 tourists were evacuated on Tuesday from the Petra Valley, in southwestern Jordan, due to flooding caused by heavy rains in recent days.
“The Jordanian government withdrew around 1,700 tourists from Petra due to heavy rain,” he said. quoted by the Spanish newspaper El Mundothe president of the Board of Commissioners of the Petra Region Authority, Suliman al-Faryat, assured that “the situation is stable and there is no danger for tourists, although the process of receiving visitors has been interrupted since noon” (local time, minus three in Portugal).
According to Al Faryat, “all that is happening now are simple floods due to the continuous rains”, but, he guarantees, “the authorities know how to deal with these situations”, because “they have been repeated for 30 years”.
The protocol is clear: “take tourists by car to safe areas” and “stop receiving new visitors until further notice.” In addition, “tickets sold for visits that cannot be made” must be returned.
Images broadcast on social networks show a strong jet of water falling towards the entrance of the Petra temple, where dozens of tourists waited to be evacuated while protecting themselves from the rain.
#Jordan : Gorge known as the Siq in #Petra turns into a river of mud when storms hit the ancient city, forcing tourists to evacuate #السيق #البتراء #البتراء pic.twitter.com/tYZ9PDHP74
— sebastian usher (@sebusher) December 26, 2022
It is expected that with the improvement of the weather in the coming days, the temple can begin to receive visitors. However, if the rains and floods continue, visits will be suspended to “guarantee the safety of tourists.”
The heavy rains that hit Jordan have already injured three people in the province of Maan, after the bus they were traveling in was swept away by the force of the water.
Source: TSF
