One dead, four injured after stray shell from Syria hits house in Ramtha

AMMAN — One person was killed and four others injured Thursday after “a stray bomb shell” from Syria's Daraa town hit a house in the northern city of Ramtha, an official confirmed. 

Ramtha District Governor Bader Qadi told The Jordan Times that a 23-year-old resident of Ramtha died after the shell hit his family home, adding the man died in hospital from his injuries.

Residents of Ramtha told The Jordan Times that the dead was Abdul Munem Al Hourani, who was a student of engineering at the Jordan University of Science and Technology. 

The health conditions of the injured are fair, according to Qadi, who noted that the house is in the centre of the main market of Ramtha. 

The governor also described the condition in Ramtha, some 90km north of Amman, as "stable and normal", acknowledging at the same time that "anxiety and fear are natural during such circumstances".

The Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted an official as saying that several mortar shells fell on Ramtha Thursday from Syria, adding that work is under way to identify the source of the attack to retaliate in the “proper way”. 

In recent remarks to The Jordan Times, residents of the border town, just a few kilometres from the Syrian border, said they have had “sleepless nights” over the past few days due to the proximity of the intense clashes between the Syrian army and the armed opposition near the border.