Two police officers, 3 inmates killed in collision

AMMAN — Two police officers and three prison inmates were killed, and 13 people were injured on Sunday in a road accident in the Yadoudeh area, police and Civil Defence Department (CDD) officials said.

The accident, which occurred at around 11am, involved a trailer truck and four vehicles near a zoo in Yadoudeh, a senior traffic official told The Jordan Times.

“The deceased were all in the same vehicle that was transporting inmates and officers from the Swaqa Correctional and Rehabilitation Centre to nearby courts,” the official added.

He said preliminary investigation indicated that wrongful overtaking by the driver of the trailer truck caused him to lose control of his vehicle, which went over the street divider and rammed four vehicles coming from the other direction, including the prison van.

The injured people’s conditions ranged from critical to fair, a second official told The Jordan Times.

A police statement said traffic officials are questioning motorists who were at the scene and will refer the trailer truck driver to the judiciary.

Over the weekend, a road accident on the Zarqa-Azraq highway killed five people, including two Saudi nationals, while a child was critically injured.