A toxic gas that leaked out of a container in Jordan’s port of Aqaba, killing at least 12 people and injuring 260 others, was chlorine, Jordan’s emergency relief coordinating agency said late Monday.
A video from a nearby CCTV camera released by state-owned al-Mamlaka TV showed the container being transported by a crane before it dropped, unleashing a cloud of yellow, gaseous material onto a ship and inside the port. The video showed people running away after the container dropped.
“At 4:15 p.m. on Monday afternoon, a chlorine gas leak occurred in the port of Aqaba due to the fall and explosion of a tank containing this substance,” said a statement from the National Center for Security and Crisis Management (NCSCM).
