Pakistani family of five killed in tragic Jordan tent fire

Five members of a Pakistani family were killed in a tent fire on a farm in the Jordan Valley early Tuesday, according to Jordanian police. 

The deceased included three girls and their parents, who died after a fire ripped through their tent, according to local sources. 

The incident occurred in the Ghor Al-Mazraa region in western Jordan, close to the city of Kerak. 

An investigation has been opened into the cause of the fire, according to a media spokesperson for the Jordanian Public Security Directorate. 

The directorate's statement did not specify what the family was doing in the country.

However, thousands of Pakistanis, Egyptians, and others work on farms in western Jordan. They often live in tents or tin huts, often with poor health and safety standards. 

In 2019, 13 people - including eight children - were killed when a blaze tore through their corrugated metal home on a farming estate in the Jordan Valley.

More than 3,200 Pakistani workers live and work in Jordan, according to figures from the Jordanian labour ministry, making up around 1 percent of all migrant workers in the kingdom. More than half are reportedly employed in the agricultural sector.