- In Jordan, a container in the port of Aqaba in the south of the country overturned and toxic gas escaped, a spokesman for the Jordanian government reports.
- Ten people died and more than 200 were injured.
“The number of dead after the gas leak in the port of Aqaba is ten dead and more than 200 injured,” Information Minister Faisal al-Chouboul told AFP.
A spokesman for the General Security Service had previously announced that “a container filled with poison gas overturned during transport and caused a leak”.
According to officials who asked not to be named, the container had fallen from a ship and the southern area of the port was being evacuated. Jordanian Prime Minister Bicher Al-Khasawneh and Interior Minister Mazen Al-Faraya visited the scene, according to official Al-Mamlaka TV.
Aqaba, one of the most important ports on the Red Sea, is the Hashemite Kingdom’s only seaport and handles most Jordanian imports and exports.