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  • Death toll in Jordan flood rises to 21, mostly children


Death toll in Jordan flood rises to 21, mostly children

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Civil defense members look for survivors after rain storms unleashed flash floods, near the Dead Sea. (Reuters)
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Rescuers on a helicopter look for survivors after rain storms unleashed flash floods, near the Dead Sea. (Reuters)
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Civil defense members look for survivors after rain storms unleashed flash floods and left huge crevasses like this one. (Reuters)
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A member of the civil defense stands near an ambulance as they search for survivors after rain storms unleashed flash floods, near the Dead Sea. (Reuters)
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Civil defense members gather to find survivors after rain storms unleashed flash floods near the Dead Sea. (Reuters)
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Jordanian rescuers talk during a rescue operation for survivors of flash floods near the Dead Sea area on Friday, October 26. (AP)
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Jordanian rescuers prepare to search for survivors of flash floods near the Dead Sea area on Friday, October 26. (AP)
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Jordanian rescuers with sniffer dogs search for survivors of flash floods near the Dead Sea area on Friday, October 26. (AP)
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Above, the site of a bus accident, which was caused by flash floods, near the Dead Sea in Jordan on Thursday, October 25. (AFP)
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A wounded pupil lays on a stretcher at a hospital after a bus accident near the Dead Sea in Jordan on Thursday, October 25. (AFP)
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(Courtesy Twitter)
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(Courtesy Twitter)
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(Courtesy Twitter)
Updated 27 October 2018
Hani Hazaimeh
Reuters
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Death toll in Jordan flood rises to 21, mostly children

  • 34 rescued in an operation involving helicopters, marine divers, swimmers
  • Several more students were injured in the incident near the Dead Sea
Updated 27 October 2018
Hani Hazaimeh Reuters

AMMAN: Rescuers combed the shores of Jordan’s Dead Sea resort area early on Friday to find survivors after rain storms unleashed flash floods that killed at least 21 people, most of them school children on a school outing.

Thirty seven people were rescued in a major operation involving helicopters and army and divers searching for survivors of the floods which swept through valleys to the shores of the area, the lowest point on earth, civil defense sources said.

Police chief Brig. Gen. Farid Al-Sharaa told state television the torrential rains swept away a bus carrying 44 children and teachers who were on a school trip picnicking in the popular destination.

The national flag was lowered to half-mast in mourning as public opinion and politicians began raising questions in local media outlets about the preparedness of national emergencies services to cope with such a disaster.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II said Friday that the extent of his grief and pain cannot be matched except by the anger that he feels towards everyone who was negligent during the flash floods.  

King Abdullah II also offered his condolences to Iraq’s leaders after it emerged that two female students of Iraqi nationality were amongst the victims of the flash floods that swept Jordan on Thursday.

Prime Minister Omar Razzaz said it appeared the school had broken regulations by going ahead with the trip which had been banned in the Dead Sea area because of bad weather.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II presided a National Policies Council meeting to discuss the repercussions of the disaster caused by flash floods that took place on Thursday.

An unknown number of people were still missing, hospital sources said.

Jordan’s ministry of health announced Friday that all patients who had been admitted to Shounah hospital with injuries following rain storms in the country have been released after receiving treatment.

The Jordanian ministry of tourism said that none of those missing after the flash floods in the country are foreign tourists.

A bridge on one of the cliffs of the Dead Sea had collapsed under the force of the rains, the first such after the end of the summer season.

Families of victims were searching the rugged area after search teams suspended operations overnight for a few hours, a witness said.

 

Many of those killed were children under 14. Families picnicking in the popular destination were also among the dead and injured.

Hundreds of families and relatives converged on Southern Shounah hospital on Thursday, a few kilometers from the resort area. Relatives sobbed and searched for details about the missing children. 

A doctor in the hospital emergency room said the “bodies kept on coming.” “Ambulances were coming and leaving, dropping dead people and dropping injured people of different ages. By 7 p.m., we had 10 bodies and 11 injured people,” he said.

Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa also called King Abdullah II on Friday in order to offer his condolences.

"The students were on a school trip and it appears that a mudslide along the road swept their bus away," the official added.
Israel's military said it was helping with the operation, sending helicopters as well as search and rescue soldiers.
"Currently assisting Jordan in rescuing a bus full of children swept away in a flood on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea," it wrote on Twitter.

PM Razzaz rushed to the scene, overseeing part of the rescue operation and visiting the wounded at an area hospital.
As the death toll continued to rise Thursday evening, Jordan's King Abdullah II announced that he canceled a visit to Bahrain, which had been scheduled for Friday.The Jordanian government will open an investigation and hold those responsible for the incident accountable, Minister of State for Media Affairs Jumana Ghunaimat said. “It is clear that there is a violation; the school that organized the trip did not abide by public safety regulations which stipulate that students must not swim and must be kept away from waterways,” she said.

The school, Victoria College in Amman, had approval for a trip to Al-Azraq, an eco-tourism destination in Jordan’s eastern desert, not to the Dead Sea, Ghunaimat said. 

The Dead Sea, the lowest point on the earth, is surrounded by steep valley slopes that frequently witness flash floods and landslides.“Everyone who is proved to have committed a violation and did not do their part will be held to account.”

An angry crowd of students’ families and other relatives surrounded the school premises in Talaa Al Ali in Amman, demanding that the school be held accountable for the tragedy.

 

Topics: Jordan flash flood school students Dead sea

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Philanthropy can unlock investment and drive global impact, says UAE’s Badr Jafar

Updated 6 sec ago
TAREK ALI AHMAD
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Philanthropy can unlock investment and drive global impact, says UAE’s Badr Jafar

Updated 6 sec ago
TAREK ALI AHMAD

DAVOS: Philanthropy has the power not only to do great good, but to do so in a way that stimulates additional capital investment from business and government sources, Emirati businessman Badr Jafar told Arab News on the sidelines at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Jafar knows a thing or two about the subject. In addition to his roles as CEO of Crescent Enterprises, a multifaceted business operating across nine sectors in 15 countries, and chairman of Gulftainer, the largest privately owned container-port operator in the world, he is special envoy for business and philanthropy for the UAE, holds multiple advisory positions in the humanitarian and development sectors and co-founded the Arab World Social Entrepreneurship Program.

“The term philanthropy itself conjures up this image of the sort of billionaire donor who has lots of money to give away, and I don’t like that,” he said.

It is problematic, Jafar said, because far from simply flinging money around in the hope that some of it sticks, many philanthropists operate in a far more sophisticated way.

“Capital today is a continuum, and impact is also a continuum,” he said.

“And the sooner we start to see the benefits of alignment of capital across government, business and philanthropy, the sooner we can start to reap the rewards that come with the multiplier effect that’s generated when these pools of capital work better together.”

Philanthropy, he said, is “the forgotten child of the capital system, regarded in some parts of the world as a peripheral player, and in other parts regarded with a high degree of suspicion.”

In fact, in its best form philanthropy can act as a catalyst: “Philanthropic capital, often referred to as catalytic capital, can help to de-risk and crowd in other sources of capital, particularly from the business sector. There are many examples from around the world where donated capital without any intended financial return goes in to unlock opportunities for businesses, including in tech.”

Emirati businessman Badr Jafar. (Supplied)

He also feels the sheer scale of philanthropic capital is seriously under-appreciated.

“Take the US example. The recent reductions in USAID was a shock to the system. But to put things into perspective, at its peak in about 2023 USAID was less than $50 billion a year. Now that’s a significant amount of money, but private philanthropy alone in the US in that same year — and to clarify, this is excluding corporate philanthropy — was well north of $600 billion.

“Now I’m not suggesting that private philanthropy is a substitute for official development assistance — aid from government, and the nature of aid from government, is extremely important, particularly in certain settings, including humanitarian.

“But today global philanthropy is pushing $2 trillion a year, more than three times the global humanitarian and development aid budgets, and that’s a lot of money.”

Jafar is the author of “The Business of Philanthropy: Perspectives and Insights from Global Thought Leaders on How to Change the World,” a collection of discussions with 50 of the world’s most active philanthropists, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the Bulgarian economist and managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Kristalina Georgieva, and Razan Al-Mubarak, head of the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi and president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The title of the book, he said “was purposefully provocative, getting people to think about what the business world has to learn from philanthropy and what philanthropists have to learn from the business world.”

Through the examples, insights and experiences of his high-profile interviewees, he makes the case for what he calls “strategic philanthropy,” in the hope that others may be inspired to follow in their footsteps.

“The need for strategic philanthropy in the world today,” he writes, “is greater than ever. The geological fractures that constitute the headlines every day — regional conflicts, political extremism, and the resulting refugee and humanitarian crises — are compounded by environmental challenges.

“Public- and private-sector leaders in all countries are grappling with these issues daily. More than ever, strategic philanthropists across the world have an opportunity to step up to help meet those challenges.”

Jafar grew up in Sharjah, in a family “with a strong belief in giving back to the community.” The book is dedicated to his mother and father, “who taught me everything I know and are still working on teaching me everything they know.”

All royalties from the sale of Badr Jafar’s book are donated to the International Rescue Committee, in support of children affected by armed combat.

Topics: WEF 2026

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