Brigadier General Nasser Al-Sweilemeen, Director General of Civil Defense, stated on Sunday that investigations revealed that the two recent fatal suffocation incidents involved the same type and model of heating device. This prompted the Public Security Directorate, in cooperation with the Criminal Investigation Department, the Central Region Command, and the Civil Defense Directorate, to determine the source of the heating devices used by the affected families.
اضافة اعلان
Al-Sweilemeen added during a meeting of the Parliamentary Energy Committee that the directorate had confiscated the heating devices used in the recent incidents for preliminary testing with hazardous materials, and that the devices will be sent to the Royal Scientific Society for proper technical examinations.
He pointed out that suffocation incidents caused by different types of heating devices occur annually, leading to loss of citizens’ lives.
The first tragic incident occurred on Thursday evening in the Hashmiyeh area of Zarqa, resulting in the deaths of four people, who were already in critical condition when Civil Defense teams arrived, and were later pronounced dead.
On Friday morning, another incident involved an Arab family consisting of a mother and five children, along with four others. Attempts to provide emergency aid were made, but the victims were pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital.
Al-Sweilemeen noted that, following directives from the Public Security Director, the directorate has compiled a list of all heating products in use and temporarily halted their sale until coordination with relevant authorities, including the Standards and Metrology Organization, which sent an engineer to participate in the investigative committee.
He added that during the committee’s work, five additional cases of moderate injuries occurred in the Hasban area of Madaba due to gas heater suffocation. Tracing the device revealed it was the same type and model used in the previous incidents, and the victims received immediate medical attention.
Al-Sweilemeen confirmed that the Public Security Directorate will continue efforts to raise public awareness about the dangers of using unsafe heating devices during winter, aiming to protect the community and reduce such tragic incidents.
