Two sisters drown in agricultural pond in Azraq

AMMAN — Police on Saturday said the drowning of two sisters in an Azraq agricultural pond a day earlier was “most probably accidental”.

The two victims, aged 45 and 31, were pulled out from an agricultural pond in Azraq by Civil Defence Department (CDD) frogmen and were pronounced dead at the scene, a CDD official source said.

The bodies of the sisters, who were both single, were transferred to the Zarqa National Institute of Forensic Medicine for an autopsy, the CDD official told The Jordan Times.

Public Security Department Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said initial investigation into the incident points to accidental death.

“Foul play is ruled out for the time being and we are awaiting the result of blood and tissue samples that are being examined by the crime lab,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

Meanwhile, an autopsy at the institute conducted by pathologists Ibrahim Obeidat, Mohammad Odeh and Mohammad Ertimat, indicated that drowning was the cause of death, a senior medical source said.

“The pathologists found water in the sisters’ lungs, which is an indication that they drowned,” the source added, noting that pathologists “did not detect any signs of struggle on the sisters’ bodies”.

The source said the victims’ mother informed authorities that the sisters were near the pond and “one of the sisters’ legs slid in the pond, so the other sister tried to rescue her and they both drowned”.

The area where the two sisters are believed to have drowned is called Al Qaa, where rain water from the Saudi and Syrian mountains is channelled into what becomes a small lake, according to a conservationist.

“This area usually fills up with water that becomes muddy and rough. In June, the water evaporates and it becomes full of salt,” the expert told The Jordan Times.