The moment of the shocking explosion in Dubai port

At least three residents of the area where the blast occurred reported that the doors and windows of their homes were violently shaken by the blast.

The fire broke out in the main port of Dubai, the emirate’s communications service posted on Twitter.

“The fire caused by an explosion in a container aboard a ship in the port of Jebel Ali is under control; no injuries have been reported,” the Dubai press office said on Twitter.

The news was accompanied by a video of firefighters tackling the blaze from the large ship full of containers, identical except for their markings, as the flames scattered rubbish across the quay.

Dubai Police said three of the ship’s 130 containers were carrying flammable materials and there were 14 crew on board.

An AFP correspondent at the scene said a helicopter was circulating as smoke billowed from the scene.

The authorities of the Jebel Ali port assured that they had taken “all the necessary measures so that the normal circulation of ships can continue in the port without any inconvenience”.

The port is conditioned to serve aircraft carriers and was the most used embarkation point by the US Navy outside its country, according to a report from the US Congress.

For him, a fire is considered rare in the Gulf emirate, one of the seven that make up the wealthy United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“I was on my balcony, my friend observed something yellow coming (like) the sun. I took a picture and then there was a noise”, said Clémence Lefaix, intern, who lives nearby of the explosion site and posted a photo of a bright light outside the apartment buildings.

A resident of the Madina district, near the port, told AFP that she saw “the windows shaking”. “I have lived here for 15 years and this is the first time I see and hear something like this,” he added.

There are some 8,000 companies based in the Jebel Ali Free Zone, which contributed 23% of Dubai’s GDP last year. It is the largest commercial area in the Middle East.

The dazzling Emirate of Dubai has transformed over the past 50 years from a small port city to a major hub for regional travel and business and financial services.

The city-state has more than three million inhabitants, mostly foreigners, against only 15,000 inhabitants in the 1950s.

Unlike Abu Dhabi, the main member of the United Arab Emirates, which has great oil wealth, Dubai’s hydrocarbons are running out and it has sought to develop non-oil industries, such as the service sector.