on video | Race to escape from the floods of Petra

Heavy rains hit the ancient site of Petra in Jordan on Monday, causing severe flooding in the area and forcing the evacuation of tourists.

Many of the people present had to be transported at full speed, while the site was filled with water.

Water filled the gorge, turning it into a particularly fast-flowing river.

Reuters footage shows a man named Mahmoud Refaat being evacuated from a UNESCO World Heritage site in a vehicle traveling at high speed through flood waters.

Other tourists were evacuated using a different route because that route was considered too dangerous.

This is not the first time that such heavy flooding has occurred in Jordan.

In 2018, more than 20 people were killed, and in 1963, 23 French tourists were washed away by flash floods while they were trapped in the ancient city of Petra.

Listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, Petra attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists annually, who come to visit one of the world’s richest archaeological sites with its rock-cut temples and tombs.

The Old Town has been used as a setting in many Hollywood movies such as “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”.