Iraq evacuates dangerous chemical substances from ports and airports

Shafaq News / The Iraqi Border Ports Authority disclosed on Friday details about the process of evacuating dangerous chemical substances from the country's ports and airports.

The spokesman for the authority, Aladdin al-Qaisi, told Shafaq News agency that all chemical substances were evacuated after the legal delay of storing them in the country's ports ended.

He added that a team had been assigned to evacuate 157 containers and 123 packages from Umm Qar port, al-Ma'aqal port, and the Baghdad and Basra airports.

All substances were transferred and stored in sites away from residential areas, according to al-Qaisi.

Following the Beirut Port explosion, Lebanon, Iraq's Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, issued an order on August 6, 2020, to evacuate dangerous substances from Iraq's ports to prevent the recurrence of the Lebanese tragedy.

On 4 August 2020, a large amount of ammonium nitrate stored at the Port of Beirut in the capital city of Lebanon exploded, causing at least 218 deaths, 7,000 injuries, US$15 billion in property damage, and leaving an estimated 300,000 people homeless.