13 people have died and more than 260 others have been wounded as a result of a hazardous chlorine gas leak at Jordan's Red Sea port of Aqaba, according to official media.
Authorities said that a crane fault caused a chemical storage container to fall while being carried.
The container was lifted into the air, caught on camera, before suddenly falling into a ship and blowing up.
People can be seen rushing for cover as a sizable cloud of a brilliant yellow gas can be seen spreading across the land.
On Monday evening, state media reported that 123 of the injured were still receiving treatment for chemical exposure in neighbourhood hospitals. According to reports, several were in severe condition.
Chemicals containing chlorine are utilised in both industry and domestic cleaning products. At normal pressure and temperature, it is a yellow-green gas, but for storage and transportation, it is frequently chilled and pressurised.
Following the spill on Monday at 15:15 (12:15 GMT), residents of Aqaba city, 16 kilometres (10 miles) north of the port, were instructed to stay indoors and cover windows and doors.
The popular southern beach of Aqaba, which is barely 7 km distant, was also evacuated out of caution, according to the AFP news agency.
After some time, the city's citizens were no longer in danger, according to Minister of State for Media Affairs Faisal Shboul.
To handle the leak and clean-up operation, the Civil Defense Department dispatched specialised personnel to the port.
Flying to Aqaba, the prime minister Bisher al-Khasawneh stopped by a medical facility where some of the injured were being treated.
He directed Interior Minister Mazen Faraya to assure "all resources to ensure the entire protection of personnel at the ports and all required procedures in respect to dangerous chemicals" and to oversee a transparent probe into the "regrettable" disaster.
According to the deputy port director of Aqaba, the container's "iron rope" "broke" while it was being carried onto a vessel.
Between 25 and 30 tonnes of chlorine were packed inside the container, which was headed for Djibouti.