By Rana Husseini

AMMAN - Two people died on Saturday following a car chase that ended with the victims’ vehicle rolling over, police officials said.

The two victims, who were not identified by officials, were allegedly searching the trash at a Greater Amman Municipality landfill in east Amman, Public Security Department (PSD) Spokesperson Major Mohammad Khatib said.

“The director in charge called the police to check out the matter and the minute the two men saw a police car approaching, they fled in their pickup truck,” he told The Jordan Times.

The driver of the pickup truck drove into rough terrain and after a long chase, police fired bullets “in the air to force the two men to surrender”, according to the PSD official.

“Their car overturned and when officers checked on them they realised that both men were hit by bullets,” Khatib said.

The two men were rushed to Al Bashir Hospital, but were declared dead on arrival, Khatib added.

Coroners sent bullets extracted from the victims’ bodies to the criminal lab for ballistic tests, he said.

Khatib said police opened an investigation into the incident and are questioning officers who were involved in the car chase.

“We have an idea of the officers who fired their guns, but we are still sending bullets to the criminal lab for further analysis,” he said.

Khatib added that police are also trying to establish what the two men were looking for in the dumpster.