‘New measures taken to ensure safety at eateries after 5-year-old’s death’

AMMAN — The recent incident at a branch of a fast-food restaurant chain, which resulted in the death of a five-year-old, prompted authorities in the capital to take new measures to ensure public safety, according to an informed source.  

Five-year-old Eizziddin Al Hirsh was electrocuted on Monday evening in the play area of a Hardee’s branch in the capital.

The family of the child was dining there during Eid Al Fitr when they noticed that their child, who was playing along with his sibling, was missing.

After more than an hour’s search, Eizziddin was found dead due to an electric shock in the play area and was then taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival. 

On Wednesday, Amman Governor Khaled Abu Zeid met with Greater Amman Municipality staff to discuss its performance during Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr. 

“The governor meets with entities concerned with residents of the capital and their safety after each occasion to follow up on measures taken by them. Today he decided to form a permanent committee to check on all restaurants and tourism areas in terms of their public safety standards after Eizziddin’s death,” a GAM source, who preferred anonymity, told The Jordan Times on Wednesday. 

The committee will be responsible for holding regular inspections and restaurants will be obligated to cooperate with its inspectors in order to license their establishments, according to the source. 

The governor tasked the tourism and public works ministries, the Jordan Standards and Metrology Organisation, the public security and civil defence departments and the Royal Scientific Society with forming the committee. 

Following the incident, the northern Amman prosecutor issued orders to arrest the director of the evening shift at the Hardee’s branch on Tuesday pending further investigation.

The branch was closed upon instructions from the governor, and the family of the deceased child accepted a “confession atwa”, a truce that entails acknowledging the wrongdoing on the part of the restaurant.

The importance of atwa, according to tribal traditions, is derived from its ability to obligate both parties to refrain from violence until a final reconciliation is reached.