Thursday, July 08, 2021

Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port fire: A timeline of explosions in the UAE

Fire crews battled an inferno on a ship anchored at Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port in the early hours Thursday after an explosion onboard the container vessel that had flammable materials. (Photo credit: Twitter)

Jennifer Bell, Al Arabiya English
Published: 08 July ,2021: 

Fire crews battled an inferno on a ship anchored at Dubai’s Jebel Ali Port in the early hours Thursday after an explosion onboard the container vessel that had flammable materials, marking one of the biggest explosions reported in the United Arab Emirates in years.

A Dubai Government official told Al Arabiya that the fire – which happened just before midnight on Wednesday - was due to a natural accident and the blaze was brought under control hours later, with all crew members safely evacuated.

The explosion is one of several blasts that have been reported in the Gulf country in recent years.



Here are some of the biggest incidents:


September 2020: Three people died, and several others were injured after a gas explosion in an Abu Dhabi building. An incorrectly installed gas canister blew up on Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Street – also known as Airport Road – in a blast which destroyed a KFC, a neighboring Hardee’s and other shops nearby.

July 2020: Two restaurants in Al Qusais, in Dubai, after a powerful blast caused by a gas explosion.

June 2016: One person was injured in a Dubai restaurant explosion when a gas pipeline burst at an eatery in Karama.

March 2016: Fifteen people were injured after a suspected gas explosion ripped through a building in Abu Dhabi’s Al Khalidiya neighborhood, which left buildings and ten vehicles damaged.

October 2015: In another restaurant explosion, a Turkish eatery in Dubai - the Bosphorus Restaurant in Umm Suqeim - was destroyed after a suspected gas leak caused a massive explosion. No injuries were reported.

July 2015: An Emirati family escaped unharmed after a house in Fujairah caught fire following a gas cylinder explosion.

November 2014: Two men were injured in an explosion at a restaurant on Red Island in Ras Al Khaimah. Investigations revealed that the blast took place because of a leak in an LPG cylinder at the eatery.

June 2014: A Pakistani worker was killed and other one sustained severe injuries after a gas cylinder exploded inside their room in a labor accommodation in Al Sajjah area in Sharjah.

June 2014: Two Pakistanis received serious burn injuries in a gas explosion at a jewelry shop in Al Maraijah area in Sharjah. A third man received minor injuries.

October 2013: Nine people were injured as result of an explosion which occurred in a laundry shop in the Raffa area in Dubai.

May 2012: A fire broke out in an apartment in the Swan area of Ajman on Sunday night after a gas cylinder exploded. The residents were abroad.

March 2008: A massive explosion at an illegal fireworks warehouse in the Al Quoz industrial area of Dubai sparked a huge fire, with black smoke stretching for miles across the city. The explosion left two people dead and led to the evacuation of nearby schools. At the time General Saif Al Shafar, the undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior at the time, described the incident as the biggest fire in the UAE’s history.


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