Arab News

LONDON: Jordanian authorities on Thursday have charged eight people in multiple crimes, primarily offenses that led to death and damage of others’ money, following a gas leak in the southern port city of Aqaba, state news agency Petra reported.

The kingdom’s Public Prosecution Office continued its probe procedures into the chlorine gas leak case and heard testimonies from 25 people who were present at the docking port, in addition to listening to other 135 testimonies during the course of the investigation earlier.

At least 13 people were killed and more than 260 others injured after a tank of chlorine gas fell as it was being loaded by crane onto a ship in Aqaba on June 27, releasing the toxic substance.

Jordanian Judicial Council Secretary-General, Walid Kanakreeh, said the PPO-elected technical committee had submitted its report on the toxic gas incident, which revealed that a key cause behind the tragedy was “insufficient” risk assessment and failure to thoroughly handle containers full of highly hazardous materials.

He said the report showed “accumulated” negligence at Aqaba port’s operating units, “wrong” container iron wire installation and failure to figure out handling times.

Kanakreeh, who is also the council’s media spokesperson, said the offenses of the eight charged also included breaching hazardous materials management instructions issued under Jordan’s Environmental Protection Law.

He said that the Public Prosecutor ruled to arrest the eight individuals pending the investigation, adding that the inquiry is “ongoing and in its final stages.”