A blaze tore through a corrugated metal home in a rural area of the Jordan Valley early on Monday killing 13 people, authorities said. Civil Defence said “13 people died and three others were injured when fire broke out in a corrugated metal house” on a farm in South Shona, around 50 kilometres west of Amman. Among the dead were a man, four women and eight children. There were three others injured in the fire that broke out after midnight that initial signs showed could have been an electrical fire, Civil Defence spokesman Iyad al Amre said in a statement. Police said an investigation had been launched into the incident. The makeshift building was home to two Pakistani families working as agricultural labourers. Jordan is home to thousands of Pakistanis, many of them agricultural labourers. House fires in Jordan are often caused by the use of cheap but dangerous forms of heating while the occupants are asleep. In recent years, Jordan has seen several deadly incidents at Syrian refugee settlements especially during the winter, including fires caused by electrical faults, paraffin or gas heaters igniting or choking from domestic gas stoves.
