Jordan Times
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
Two injured tourists
released from hospital
Group members who escaped shooting resume tour of country
By Dalya Dajani
AMMAN — One Australian and one of two British tourists, who were wounded in
Monday’s shooting in Amman’s Roman Amphitheatre, were discharged from Prince
Hamzah Hospital on Tuesday, Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported quoting Hospital
Director Abdul Aziz Amr.
The other British tourist is still recovering at Al Bashir Hospital, while the
Dutch victim was transferred to Al Hussein Medical Centre, Director of Al Bashir
Hospital Dr. Mohammad Rawabdeh said.
Rawabdeh noted that the Dutch tourist underwent surgery yesterday and is
currently under observation, according to Petra.
He added that the health condition of the British tourist was stable, but was
still in need of care due to injury to the kidney and liver.
The Australian released yesterday was identified in a radio interview with the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation as 22-year-old Ashleigh Blair, who sustained
a minor hip injury, the Associated Press reported. Interior Minister Eid Fayez
told reporters on Monday two British women, a Dutch man, an Australian woman and
a New Zealander woman were injured in addition to their Jordanian tour guide.
News sources identified the victim killed in the shooting as British tourist
Christopher Stokes.
Meanwhile, members of the tour group who escaped Monday’s shooting in the
capital unharmed resumed their tour of the country yesterday as planned.
The tour and travel agency responsible for the group told The Jordan Times the
group kept to its schedule and headed to the Dead Sea and Petra.
“Despite the initial shock of what happened, the group continued on its trip as
planned and are all doing fine,” said the agency’s contact Nizar Steitiyyeh.
According to Steitiyyeh, a total of 17 people were in the tour group that
arrived in Jordan on Sunday from an unspecified Arab country as part of a
package tour of the region.
The tour group, which included nationals from Great Britain, New Zealand,
Australia and the Netherlands, were in the Roman Amphitheatre in downtown Amman
on Monday when a lone gunman opened fire on them, killing one British tourist
and injuring five others.
British tourist Karen Sparke, 47, told Reuters she recalled a glimpse of the
clean-shaven gunman who opened fire as they climbed the ancient steps of Amman’s
Roman Amphitheatre.
“I turned around and saw a man with a gun pointing at us but I didn’t make out
what he looked like but he had typical dark hair,” Sparke, who was shot in her
shoulder, told Reuters.
The group’s tour guide, a member of the tourism police, was also injured in the
attack.
Steitiyyeh said the group also has stops scheduled in Wadi Rum and Aqaba.
“The tour group has a good knowledge of the country, particularly in terms of
its safety, and decided to continue with their trip,” he added.
The tour will continue to Egypt as planned on Friday.
Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Munir Nassar on Monday relayed to the media
his confidence in the tourism industry’s ability to recover from Monday’s
shooting.
The World Tourism Organistation (UNWTO), a specialised agency of the United
Nations, also echoed its confidence in the resilience of the region’s tourism
industries in the face of conflict, terrorist threats and attacks.
In a statement made in July on the impact of ongoing conflict in the Middle East
on tourism, UNWTO Secretary General Francesco Frangialli said the region has a
strong ability to withstand recurring shocks to the industry.
“The region has a proud history of resilience to external shocks and an enormous
capacity for recovery from crisis situations,” said Frangialli.
“Conflicts and tensions have slowed down growth but have not produced
significant decreases in overall volumes of [tourist] flows,” he added.
He noted that visitor numbers that substantially drop in countries affected by
conflict bounced back quickly once stability reemerged.
This is true for Jordan, which continued to see healthy growth in tourist
traffic to the country in the months following the attack on three of the
capital’s hotels in November of last year.
Although travel agencies reported cancellations by tour groups scheduled to
visit the country, other vacationers showed their support by maintaining their
travel plans.
This included a fleet of tourists that docked in Aqaba the following morning as
part of a visit to the region.
Figures released by the Tourism Ministry earlier this year reflected the
industry’s recovery by noting a 7.1 per cent increase in tourist arrivals to
Jordan during the first five months of this year compared to the same period in
2005. The figures showed that a total of 1,982,272 tourists visited the country
between January and May.