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Large explosion at military facility in Jordan

September 11, 2020

Jordan's government said that a series of explosions near the city of Zarqa was caused by an electrical short circuit in an army depot storing mortars. It said that no casualties had been reported.

https://p.dw.com/p/3iJCs
A Jordanian police checkpoint close the highway between Jordanian capital of Amman and the city of Zarqa, after of large explosions at a Jordanian army base outside the city of Zarqa on the northeastern edge of capital Amman, Jordan, September 11, 2020.
Image: Reuters/M. Hamed

A large explosion took place not far from the Jordanian capital Amman in the city of Zarqa, in the early hours of Friday morning.

Jordan's minister of state for media affairs, Amjad Adaileh, told state media said that preliminary investigations indicated that the explosion was caused by an electrical short circuit in a military building storing mortars and rounds.

"According to the Army General Command, until this moment, no casualites have been recorded as a result of the explosion," Adaileh was quoted as saying. A committee has been set up to determine the cause of the explosion.

Jordanian police at the checkpoint close to the highway between capital Amman and Zarqa after explosions at an army base
Jordanian police set up checkpoints and closed off the area affected by the explosionsImage: Reuters/M. Hamed

The army base outside the city of Zarqa contained what the English-language version of the government statement described as "unusable mortar munitions." The government said that the area was remote and uninhabited, and was under video surveillance.

The area of the explosion, some 25 kilometers (15 miles) from the capital Amman, is home to a series of military facilities.

Residents in the area shared images of the explosion and reported windows of homes in Zarqa being shattered.

Zarqa has witnessed several explosions in the past, often caused by old munitions and fires in warehouses.

am/msh (Reuters, AFP)