School student killed as bus overturns

AMMAN — An 18-year-old student was killed and seven other students were injured in a bus accident on Monday, a source from the Civil Defence Department (CDD) said.

The bus, owned by a private school, overturned on a road in Wadi Al Seer when the driver failed to give way to a tourist bus, the Public Security Department’s Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi told The Jordan Times. 

There were no passengers on the tourist bus.

King Hussein Medical City received the injured, who were listed in fair condition, according to the CDD. 

A PSD statement said the department has started regulatory campaigns to monitor school buses to make sure drivers abide by traffic laws in terms of licences required for vehicles and the number of passengers carried.

Under the law, the department will make sure drivers are qualified to drive school and university buses before hiring them, the statement said, in order to avoid accidents caused by reckless driving.  

If a bus driver is caught violating any of the requirements to drive a vehicle, the authorities are legally justified to stop the driver from working or confiscate his  driving licence.