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AMMAN – Balqa Governorate is now enforcing regulations banning Dead Sea visitors from swimming during the night for their safety, the governor said on Monday.
Balqa Governor Saleh Shoshan said the regulations were issued “a long time ago” but the decision to enforce them came later.
“I am upset that some local websites are reporting that we issued these regulations recently now. We did it a long time ago but we have just recently decided to activate them to ensure public safety,” Shoshan told The Jordan Times over the phone on Monday.
He noted that a few isolated incidents that required rescue teams to intervene took place when people swam at night in the Dead Sea, but none had been similar in magnitude to the incident that involved the rescue of nine people by Civil Defence Department (CDD) divers and other rescue teams in a 16-hour operation.
The rescue operation took place last weekend when four people were swimming at the Amman Public Beach on Friday and strong waves pushed them away from the beach. The high density of salt in the Dead Sea and the strong waves made it hard for them to swim back to shore.
Another five people were swimming near a beach close to the hot springs at the same time when they were pulled further into the sea because of the waves.
The joint rescue operation included divers and personnel from the CDD, the Public Security Department, the Royal Naval Force and the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army, according to a CDD statement.
“We want people to enjoy their time but at the same time we are concerned about their safety,” Shoshan added.
The governor said when people swim in the evening, if any incident were to take place it would be difficult for their friends to find them in the dark.
“Rescue operations are also difficult to conduct in darkness,” he added.