Short circuit caused deadly Amman fire — officials

AMMAN — Officials on Wednesday said a short circuit was the cause of a house fire that left four dead and three others, all from the same family, in critical condition earlier during the week in Amman.

On Sunday, a fire broke out at dawn at a house in Jabal Ashrafieh, causing the immediate death of two sisters, aged 23 and 19, as a result of smoke inhalation.

"Two other family members, the 42-year-old mother and her 9-year-old daughter died at the hospital from carbon monoxide poisoning,” according to official sources.

“A committee comprising Civil Defence Department experts and other officials from related security agencies that was tasked with examining the fire concluded that the fire was the result of a short circuit,” a senior official source told The Jordan Times.

The father of the family, his son and his seven-year-old girl remained hospitalised, all in critical condition.

Relatives of the family told The Jordan Times on Tuesday that the fire started in the room adjacent to the main entrance of the house and “apparently trapped the entire family inside the house”.