Madaba stabbing, ‘revenge’ arson attack leave three dead

AMMAN — Three people were killed in Madaba on Wednesday night, including one who was allegedly murdered by an Arab national, official sources said.

The first incident involved a man who was stabbed to death following a heated argument at a shop, Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said.

The stabbing incident caused a group of people to set several shops ablaze "to avenge the killing of the victim", the police official told The Jordan Times.

As a result, the police official maintained, two people died from smoke inhalation and burns.

"The shops that were set on fire did not belong to the victim or his family and they were randomly targeted," Sartawi explained.

A team of forensic experts headed by Director of the National Institute of Forensic Medicine Adnan Abbas conducted autopsies on the bodies of the three victims, a senior medical source said.

"The 22-year-old victim who was murdered died of one fatal stab wound to the chest," the senior medical source told The Jordan Times.

The two victims who died following the fire include a Syrian and a Jordanian.

"The two victims died as a result of burns sustained to their bodies as well as poisoning from carbon monoxide inhalation," according to the medical source.

Meanwhile, Criminal Court Prosecutor Ishaq Abu Awad began questioning the suspect, a second source told The Jordan Times.