| Submit your comments on this article |
| Arabia |
| Dubai authorities probe container ship blast that rocked city |
| 2021-07-09 |
| [IsraelTimes] Authorities say blaze was doused within 40 minutes, with no casualties; all 14 crew evacuated in time; police say excessive heat might have been factor. Dubai authorities on Thursday were investigating a kaboom on a container ship carrying flammable materials which unleashed a fireball at one of the world’s busiest ports and sent shock waves through the city. Firefighters rushed to the scene at Jebel Ali Port to tackle the blaze that broke out shortly before midnight on the large vessel, which authorities said had been preparing to dock. Police said that the summer heat, already hovering above 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Gulf city, may have been a factor. Dubai police said three of the 130 containers on the ship held flammable materials. "Initial reports indicate that... friction, or heat, may have led to the blast," Dubai police chief Abdullah al-Marri told al-Arabiya, adding that there were no radioactive substances or explosives in the containers. Such events are a rarity in the ultra-secure Gulf emirate, one of seven which make up the wealthy United Arab Emirates. There are 8,000 companies based in the Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) which contributed 23% of Dubai’s gross domestic product last year. It is the Middle East’s largest trade zone. The glitzy Gulf emirate of Dubai transformed itself over the past 50 years from a sleepy port town to a regional travel, trade and financial services center. The city state is now home to more than three million people, mostly foreigners, compared with only 15,000 inhabitants in the 1950s. Unlike Abu Dhabi, the leading member of the UAE that sits on large fossil fuel reserves, Dubai has dwindling oil resources and has worked to develop non-oil industries, becoming a hub for services and tourism for the region. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 World's deepest pool opens in Dubai: 196ft-deep 'underwater city' includes 'abandoned' homes to explore and an arcade to play in |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2021-07-09 09:47 |