Remember the blast at a Lebanon port some time back that sent shockwaves throughout the port city? Well, something of the sort, at a lower scale, happened in Dubai. An oil tanker harbored at the Dubai Port caught fire and exploded, sending shockwaves throughout the city. Nothing of the sort has ever happened before in UAE.
Jebel Ali Port, located on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, was the incident site. Neighborhoods as far as 15 miles away trembled, and windows were shattered owing to the blast.
The port is the busiest port for the warships of the U.S outside North America. Videos on social media show firefighters controlling the flames. However, amazingly, no causalities have been reported by the authorities as of now.
The magnitude of the devastation caused by the explosion is not yet clear. But one thing is clear for sure: the cargo went sky high due to the explosion. For now, port officials are “taking all necessary measures to ensure that the normal movement of vessels continues without any disruption,” according to the AP News report. Director-General of the Dubai Media Office Mona al-Marri said to a Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television that this untoward incident “could happen anywhere in the world”. The state’s communication ministry is working round the clock to nip all the rumours about the cause of the explosion in the bud till the reason is clarified after proper investigation of the site.
The blast and the flames came to the sight of the world when at around 11:45 pm local time, Dubai residents started posting pictures and videos of the ordeal. The Jebel Ali Port is the lifeline of Dubai and receives cargo from worldwide in mammoth quantities. The port is managed by DP World, a Dubai based company.
The ported is rightly called the “Vital link in the global trade network” where the eastern and western markets meet and work in peace. As of now, there has been no official statement from the DP World and Pentagon. The cause of the blast is yet to be decided. It can be both foul play or accident, but that time will tell.
This is a developing story, and updates will follow.