Amman, Jordan.- Some 1,700 tourists were evacuated yesterday from the archaeological site of Petra, in southwestern Jordan, due to flooding dand the zone produced by the intense rains of the last days, according to official sources.
“The Jordanian government has evacuated some 1,700 tourists in Petra due to the heavy rains,” the president of the Board of Commissioners of the Petra Region Authority, Suliman al-Faryat, told EFE, who assured that “the situation is stable and there is no danger for tourists, although the reception process (of visitors) has been stopped since noon”.
According to Al Faryat, “All that is happening now are simple floods due to the continuous rains in the area, the authorities know how to handle the situation” because these circumstances “They have been repeated for 30 years.”
After decades suffering from this phenomenon, the authorities “are more careful with this type of emergency” with a clear protocol: “evacuate tourists from tourist areas by car to take them to areas out of danger”, as well as “stop receiving new visitors until further notice”.
In addition, among the device designed to deal with these episodes includes “return the tickets sold for visits that finally could not be made”.
Al Faryat affirmed that Jordan learned its lesson after a total of 12 people died in torrential rains in various parts of the country in 2018. and that forced the evacuation of thousands of citizens and tourists from the monumental city of Petra.
Images recorded by Jordanian television Al Mamlaka TV and shared on its official Twitter account show a strong torrent of water falling towards the entrance of the Petra templewhere dozens of tourists waited to be evacuated at the door while protecting themselves from the rain with raincoats.
From the Board of Commissioners of the Petra Region Authority they hope that “with the improvement of the weather in the next few days, they can begin to receive people”, although they already anticipate that if the rains and floods continue, “They will not receive anyone to guarantee the safety of tourists.”
In addition, the heavy rains that affect the country have left three people injured during the floods in the province of Maan, in the southwest of Jordan, after the minibus in which they were traveling was swept away by the torrent of water, according to the region’s Emergency Unit, quoted by the official Jordanian news agency, Petra.
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The city of Petra is an archaeological site excavated entirely in rock, which dates back to the time of the Nabataeans, around the 5th century BC, and is considered one of the most important treasures in the world.
According to the latest data provided by this body, in the last 11 months a total of 1,419,048 visitors of various nationalities arrived in Petra, a figure that represents 38% more compared to the same period last year, in which 757,038 visitors from the same area arrived.
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