10 dead, +250 injured after leak of toxic gas from oil tanker in Jordan

More than 10 people have died and over 250 were being treated in hospital after a toxic gas leak from a storage tank in Jordan’s Aqaba port, the government spokesman Faisal Al-Shaboul said.

Specialized teams were dealing with the leak after a tank filled with toxic gas, suspected to be chlorine, fell during its transportation, leading to a gas leak at the site, Petra said, citing the spokesperson of the Public Security Directorate.

The area was immediately evacuated, according to Aqaba Governor Mohammad Al-Radayaa, who said the situation “had been controlled.”

Local authorities also called on Aqaba citizens to close and seal doors and windows and to avoid going out.

The Director of Aqaba Health Department, Dr. Jamal Obeidat, announced the city’s hospitals are full after they reached the maximum capacity in addition to opening a field hospital to receive injuries.

Obeidat added that cases of gas suffocation are referred to health centers, noting that the health condition of the injured is between medium and critical.

The Minister of State for Information Affairs, Al-Shaboul, said that Prime Minister Dr. Bishr Al-Khasawneh instructed the formation of an investigation team, headed by the interior minister, into the accident and explosion.