Tourists killed in Jordan bus crash
2012-10-28 08:57
Brussels - Four Belgian tourists were killed in a coach accident in Jordan on Saturday, police in Jordan and the Belgian foreign ministry said in a statement.
The Belgian foreign ministry said that three women and a man, all Belgians, had been killed in the accident and that additionally six people were seriously injured while the fate of eight others was not immediately known.
It also said that the tourists were from Belgium and Luxembourg.
Jordanian police had said 15 others were injured, giving their nationalities as Belgian and French.
"My thoughts are with the victims of this bus accident in Jordan and their families," Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo said on Twitter.
Jordanian police spokesperson Mohamad Khatib said the survivors, who had "light to medium injuries," were taken to hospital following the collision between the coach and a car.
Phone line set up
A crisis centre had been set up along with a phone line for people worried about friends or relatives.
The accident happened at around 18:00 in the western city of Karak, as the tourist coach returned from the historical city of Petra to the capital Amman, 200km to the north, a spokesperson for Thomas Cook Belgium told AFP.
According to first reports, the coach was hit by a vehicle which was in the wrong lane and the coach driver didn't appear to be at fault, the Thomas Cook spokesperson said.
As well as the tourists, the coach driver and local guide were also injured, the spokesperson said, without giving any indication of their conditions.
A special flight will be leave on Sunday morning to take holidaymakers home.
Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said the country's embassy in Amman, in collaboration with the Jordanian authorities were offering "all necessary support."
The news revives memories in Belgium of a coach crash last March in a Swiss road tunnel which left 28 dead, including 22 Belgian and Dutch children returning from a skiing holiday.
- SAPA
