Yesterday, officials and state media claimed that chlorine gas leaked from a storage tank at the Jordanian port of Aqaba, causing at least 12 deaths and 251 injuries.

According to officials, the spill occurred after a tank containing 25 tonnes of chlorine gas destined for Djibouti toppled during transit.

A video broadcast to the Twitter account of state television showed a storage tank falling from a winch and striking the deck of a ship, followed by yellow gas rising into the air as people fled.

Officials from the ministry of health anticipated that by today, only a few patients would remain hospitalized.

When inhaled, chlorine transforms into hydrochloric acid, which can cause internal burns and drown due to a reactive release of water from the lungs.

The grain silos in Aqaba, Jordan, have ceased operations to enable a check of its grains and for any signs of contamination. At the same time, maritime traffic at Aqaba ports continues, according to officials.

They stated that no vessels were offloading grain cargo at the time of the event.

The port of Aqaba, located near the northern extremity of the Red Sea, has been an important transit point for Iraqi imports and exports for decades.

State television stated that Prime Minister Bisher al-Khasawneh arrived in Aqaba and headed to a hospital where some of the injured were treated.

The information minister was quoted by state television as adding that Al-Khasawneh had established an investigating committee to look into the incident.