The owner of a shawarma stand in the capital, Amman, offered dishes at a cost of less than six shekels, leading to an onslaught of customers.

• Shawarma dish // Photo: Liron Moldovan

A five-year-old boy died and 700 civilians were hospitalized today (Wednesday) in mild to moderate condition after eating spoiled shawarma at a shawarma stand in the Jordanian capital Amman.

The country's Ministry of Health issued a statement stating that the number of patients hospitalized as a result of the poisoning stood at one hundred patients on Tuesday and today reached 700 people. 

The country's deputy health minister was quoted in the media today as saying that most of the patients were released from hospitals to their homes after receiving gastric lavage and fluids. 

The event began after a shawarma stall owner offered dishes at a price that "broke the market" in the Baka neighborhood in the northern Jordanian capital, less than six shekels per serving of pita. What customers did not know was that due to the heavy heat wave in the country, the refrigerator that held the meat for shawarma stopped refrigerating and the meat broke down and became dangerous to eat.