Jordan flash floods kill woman and niece after car sweeps off bridge

A 37-year-old woman and her 27-year-old niece died after flash floods swept their vehicle off the Sayagha Bridge in Jordan's Madaba governorate, local media reported on Thursday, 29 October. The vehicle was carried more than 100 metres into a valley after heavy rainfall triggered rapid torrents from higher ground. Rescue operation and recovery The driver, identified as the brother of the older victim and uncle of the younger, escaped the vehicle by jumping onto a nearby rock before the car was submerged. He was rescued by Civil Defence teams and local residents. However, the two women remained trapped inside as the car was dragged into the floodwater channel. Search teams recovered the first body on Wednesday, 28 October, approximately seven kilometres from the bridge. The second body was found on Thursday, 29 October, five kilometres further down the channel. Officials confirmed the older victim was a mother of four, while the niece was a university graduate working as a teacher under a supplementary education programme. Regional weather risks The incident followed a period of light rainfall near sunset that rapidly intensified into life-threatening floodwaters. The event highlights the immediate dangers of wadi crossings during unstable weather patterns currently affecting parts of the Levant and the wider Middle East. This tragedy coincides with several weather-related fatalities across the region this week, including a child killed in Mecca and a man found dead after a…