A series of explosions have lit up the night sky outside the city of Zarqa, northeast of Amman, the capital of Jordan, at a military ammunition depot in Ghabawi.
The explosion took place at a warehouse of “unusable mortar bombs” in the Ghabawi area east of Zarqa and was caused by an electrical short, Petra reported citing Jordan’s minister of media affairs Amjad Adaileh.
A massive explosion has reportedly taken place in the city of Zarqa in #Jordan. Locals filming the video can be heard comparing it to the Beirut port blast, saying it’s “something chemical”. pic.twitter.com/WurkopBouL
Maps of the area show several army bases are located on the outskirts of Zarqa near the Ghabawi peak.
المشهد مرعب، نسأل الله السلامة #الزرقاءpic.twitter.com/PvCPvcCBZv
The explosion took place in #Zarqa#Jordanpic.twitter.com/3YPntZpNQX
Local residents reported shattered windows and seeing flames licking up into the night sky.
Some social media users rushed to compare the Zarqa explosion to the blast at the port of Beirut, Lebanon last month, when a warehouse filled with ammonium nitrate devastated the port and caused at least 190 deaths and 6,500 injuries.
However, there have been no known casualties from the Friday incident, the government said.
“According to the Army General Command, so far no casualties have been recorded as a result of the explosion,” Adaileh said. He added that the munitions depot was in an area otherwise uninhabited.
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