BREAKING: People, Including Tourists, Stabbed in Jordan

This morning, several people, including three tourists were stabbed in Jordan western city of Jerash.

The tourists, a tour guide and a security officer were attacked near the Roman ruins for which the town is famous, according to the police, who added that a man was arrested over connection with the attack.

"Around noon, a man attacked tourists, a tour guide and a security officer who tried to stop him in Jerash," a spokesman for the public security directorate in Jordan said in a statement.

"The wounded were transported to hospital for treatment" and "the assailant was immediately arrested," he added.

The tourists were initially reported as being Spanish, however they were later found to have been Mexican. 

Footage posted on social media showed a woman lying on the ground, bleeding, another in extreme panic and her shirt tainted with bloodstains. Another security source said two of the tourists were in critical condition but gave no details.

Jordan has witnessed an increase in the number of European tourists in the past two years and is considered by tour operators as one of the safest tourist destinations in the Middle East. Foreign tourists are rarely attacked in the kingdom.

Earlier in August, a gunman opened fire on a bus traveling through Umm Sayhoun, a village located 3 kilometers (2 miles) north of Petra. While the bus sustained material damage, the gunfire did not injure its driver and sole occupant. Prior to the incident, the Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA) used this vehicle to transport tour guides between Wadi Musa and Petra.