CDD sergeant posthumously promoted after ‘heroic rescue’ operation

AMMAN — Civil Defence Department (CDD) Sgt. Ahmad Mohammad Tayeb died on Monday in the line of duty while attempting to rescue two people who fell into a well in Madaba, some 30km southwest of Amman.

In recognition of his "heroic" efforts, Tayeb was posthumously promoted to the rank of warrant officer, according to a CDD statement.

The diver was involved in a dawn operation to rescue two men who suffered carbon monoxide and dioxide poisoning while performing maintenance work on an old well using a pump in Madaba's Um Al Waleed area, a CDD source told The Jordan Times. 

The statement said Tayeb managed to get the two men out of the well, but they died due to oxygen deprivation.

The CDD rescuer lost consciousness due to the "high concentration" of toxic fumes emitted by the suction pump, which eventually led to his death, the statement said.

All three men were in their twenties, according to the CDD. 

The department urged the public not to use pumps inside wells and closed spaces due to the toxic fumes they emit which may be fatal.