20 people killed in desert highway accidents this year

AMMAN — A young man in his twenties died on Tuesday night in a road accident on the desert highway, medical sources in the Southern Region Forensic Department said Wednesday.

The number of fatalities on the highway since the beginning of the year totalled 20 people, in addition to tens of injuries, the sources told the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Some of the injured on the “death road”, as it is now called, suffered permanent disabilities, in addition to the fact that these accidents have resulted in high financial losses.

Area residents are calling for rehabilitating the road as soon as possible, arguing that its virtual age of 30 years has already finished, Petra reported.

The residents say the losses caused by accidents, both human and financial, are much more than the cost of improving the highway linking Jordan’s northern and southern regions and connecting the Kingdom with neighbouring countries.

They also complained that a 70-kilometre section of the road, which extends from Jiza to Qatraneh, has become a “drivers’ graveyard” since it has many potholes and speed bumps, according to Petra.

A total of 668 people died and 14,790 were injured in 102,441 road accidents across the country in 2014, according to figures released by the Central Traffic Department (CTD).

The number of accidents, deaths and injuries decreased in 2014 compared with 2013, according to the CTD, which registered 768 deaths and 15,954 injuries in 107,864 road accidents in 2013.