The Jordanian authorities arrested Wednesday a man after stabbing four Jordanians, including a security officer, a tour guide and a bus driver, in addition to three Mexican tourists and a Swiss woman in Jerash, north of the country.
Jordanian tour guide Zouheir Zreiqat witnessed the attack and told AFP that it happened "just before midday when around 100 foreign tourists" were at the site.
"A bearded man in his twenties wearing black and brandishing a knife started to stab tourists," Zreiqat said.
He said others started to shout for help and he, along with three other tour guides and three tourists managed to stop the assailant.
"We took the knife from him. He stayed silent, without saying a word until the police arrived and arrested him," Zreiqat said.
Health Minister Saad Jaber confirmed that eight people had been wounded and had been transported to the hospital for treatment. The minister said that four of the victims "suffered moderate to severe wounds, while the other four had minor injuries."
"A Mexican tourist in serious condition and a Jordanian tour guide" were transferred via helicopter to the King Hussein Medical Center in Amman, he added.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi telephoned his Swiss counterpart Ignazio Cassis and deputy Mexican foreign secretary Julian Ventura to assure them Jordan was caring for their country's citizens and that they would be kept abreast of the results of investigations.
Moreover, an official from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the stabbing, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.
It was not the first time a Jordanian tourist attraction has witnessed an attack.
In December 2016, in Karak, 10 people were killed in an attack claimed by ISIS that also left 34 wounded.
Four violent incidents struck the country the same year, including a suicide attack in June claimed by ISIS that killed seven Jordanian border guards near the frontier with Syria.
