Chlorine gas blast at Jordan port kills at least 12, injures over 250
- Container filled with chlorine gas fell while it was being transported at Jordan’s Aqaba port, causing an explosion of toxic yellow cloud
- Dramatic video footage showed the moment the tank exploded, sending dockworkers scrambling to escape the gas
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Chlorine gas explosion at Jordan’s Aqaba port kills at least 12, injures over 250
A chlorine gas explosion killed 12 people and injured more than 250, authorities said, when a tank that fell from a crane released a poisonous yellow cloud at Jordan’s Aqaba port.
Footage on state-owned Al-Mamlaka TV showed the large cylinder, said to have been carrying about 30 tonnes of gas, plunging from a crane on a moored vessel and violently releasing the chlorine gas cloud.
The force of the blast sent a truck rolling down the dock, while port workers ran for their lives.
“At exactly 15.15 this afternoon, a chlorine gas leak occurred in the port of Aqaba as a result of the fall and explosion of a tank containing this substance,” the government’s crisis cell said in a statement on Monday.
The death toll rose to 12 with 260 injured, both Jordanians and foreigners, it said, adding that almost half of the injured were being treated in hospitals.
Nearby areas were evacuated and residents told to stay indoors as emergency responders established a 500-metre cordon around the site of the incident, the crisis cell said.