Huge blast rocks Jordanian military arms depot outside capital Amman

Official says explosions set off by electrical short circuit at ammunition storage facility; no reports of casualties

By AFP  

Screenshot from a video said to show a large explosion at a Jordanian army base near the capital, Amman, September 11, 2020. (Screenshot/Twitter)

AMMAN, Jordan — A huge blast rocked a Jordanian military munitions depot early Friday, sparking a large fire, but there were no reports of casualties at the base situated in an uninhabited area.

“An explosion occurred in the early hours of Friday… in a warehouse containing unusable mortar bombs belonging to the armed forces,” a government spokesman said in a statement.

The blast happened in the city of Zarqa, 25 kilometers (15 miles) east of the capital Amman, where several Jordanian bases and depots are located.

Images which swiftly spread on social media showed a huge ball of flame rising into the night sky, followed by the sound of several explosions.

Government spokesman Amjad al-Adaileh said in his statement that “so far no injuries have been recorded.”

An initial investigation had determined that “the explosion was caused by an electrical short circuit in warehouses situated in an isolated and uninhabited area” which was under camera surveillance.

The army, which swiftly closed off the area, acknowledged that there had been an explosion “in one of the ammunition depots which is being dismantled near the city of Zarqa.”

It added in a statement that “a committee has been set up to determine the causes of the explosion.”

Zarqa governorate, which has a population of about 1.5 million people, has witnessed several explosions in past years, mainly caused by old munitions and fires in warehouses, as it is also home to many factories and a free trade area.

The explosion comes only days after the Hashemite kingdom announced it was reinstating military service for unemployed men between the ages of 25 to 29.

Jordan abolished compulsory military service in 1991, three years before signing a peace accord with Israel.

But the country and its 10 million people, ruled by King Abdullah II, have been hit hard by restrictions imposed to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Unemployment rose to 23 percent in the first quarter of 2020, according to official figures, up from 19% for the same period last year.