On the afternoon of Monday, June 27, at Pier No. 4 of the port of Aqaba, the only one in Jordan, located on the Red Sea, in the south of the Hashemite kingdom, a crane lifts above a boat a container when suddenly a line breaks. It’s 4:18 p.m. local time. The container falls. After the shock, a thick yellow cloud escapes instantly.
The container contained liquid gas with a high percentage of chlorine, an extremely corrosive toxic gas for the eyes, the skin and the respiratory system, the inhalation of which can cause pneumonia, pulmonary edema or even death, according to the WHO.
According to the latest official report, 13 people died – 8 Jordanians and 5 foreigners – from asphyxiation and 260 others were injured. Among them, 120 people are still hospitalized.
Life resumed
In the aftermath of the tragedy, headlines in the Jordanian press insisted that the authorities were on the alert and that life was back to normal.
“Content Hazard”assures the front page of the Jordanian daily Al-Ghad. “The king [Abdallah] and the crown prince [Hussein] follow the situation”headlines the newspaper Al-Destour.
All of the local press endorsed the reassuring statements of Jordanian Prime Minister Bicher Al-Khasawneh, who went to the port a few hours after the tragedy.
“The situation is under control”can we read in the English-language daily The Jordan Times. “Life in Aqaba has returned to normal”reports the newspaper Al-Raï.
Indeed, activities at the port of Aqaba resumed on Tuesday, June 28, with the exception of wharf No. 4. Grain silos, located 600 meters from the site of the accident, will also have to be examined.
An investigation into the circumstances of the tragedy has been opened. As such, Al-Raï relays the words of the head of the trade union committee for the management and operation of the ports, Ahmad Saoud Al-Amariya, who explains that he has complained on several occasions about the dilapidated state of the equipment at the port of Aqaba.
“We notified the relevant authorities of the port state, to no avail.”