13 Pakistanis, including 8 children, killed in farm fire in Jordan

Thousands of foreign labourers live in wretched conditions in private farms in the Jordan Valley, a fertile vegetable and fruit growing area.

The fire swept through corrugated iron sheds housing labourers at the farm in South Shouna, a rural area west of the capital Amman, early on Monday.

Three other people were injured and taken to hospital, according to civil defence officials.

Police said an investigation had been launched into the incident.

A civil defence spokesman said two families had lived in the makeshift buildings used as housing for immigrant labourers.

The cause of the fire was unclear but another spokesman said an electrical fault may have been to blame.

Thousands of migrant workers are employed by private farms in the Jordan Valley, many of them housed in poor accommodation.