Watch: Yellow chlorine gas engulfs Jordan’s Aqaba Port; kills at least a dozen, injures 250

The port of Aqaba in Jordan turned yellow after a toxic chlorine gas explosion occurred on Monday, killing at least 10 people and injuring 250, Sky News reported. As per the authorities, the cloud of yellow gas enveloped after a crane on a moored vessel loading chlorine tanks fell onto a ship due to the crane’s malfunction. The head of the Aqaba health department Jamal Obeidat advised citizens in Aqaba to close windows and stay indoors as the gas is harmful. Watch video:

In a CCTV footage of the incident shared by a state-owned television, a storage tank, said to have been carrying about 30 tonnes of gas, can be seen hoisted in the air. Suddenly, the container drops on the deck of a ship resulting in a violent release of the yellow gas cloud. As the poisonous gas starts to spread around the port area, dockworkers are also seen running away from the spot. The government’s crisis cell said that the explosion took place at exactly 3:15 PM. According to the Facebook page of the Civil Defence service, specialised teams had been sent to deal with the leak and cleanup operation. Rescue planes had also been flown to Aqaba to evacuate the injured people. Prime Minister Bishr Khasawneh and Interior Minister Mazen al-Faraya had also rushed to the port, 16 km away from Aqaba city, to look into the matter. The deputy director of Aqaba’s port told a local news channel that a vessel had been waiting to load almost 20 containers of liquified chlorine gas when the iron rope of the vessel broke and led to the accident. The container was filled with almost 30 tons of the toxic yellow-coloured gas for being exported to Djibouti. The members of civil defence forces along with medics reached the spot immediately and took the injured people to two state hospitals - a field hospital and one private facility. The hospitals have already been reported full and can’t afford more cases. The injured locals are in medium to critical condition, the Aqaba health director noted. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.