Explosion at Dubai’s Jebel Ali port rocks city

The blaze sent up giant orange flames on a vessel at the crucial Jebel Ali Port, the busiest in the Middle East, which sits on the eastern side of the Arabian Peninsula – but authorities said the situation is under control.

“A fire caused by an explosion within a container on board a ship at Jebel Ali Port has been brought under control; no casualties have been reported,” the Dubai Media Office (DMO) said on Twitter, according to Al Jazeera.

The combustion reportedly unleashed a shock wave through the city, shaking buildings and windows in neighborhoods as far as 25 kilometers from the port.

CNN says the explosion caused buildings to shake, as far away as 15 kilometers away from the port.

There were no immediate reports of casualties at the port, which is also the busiest port of call for American warships outside of the US.

Early on Thursday, the Dubai government issued a statement saying that emergency services had brought the blaze under control.  

The extent of damage caused to the sprawling port and surrounding cargo was not immediately clear.  The cause of the fire also was not immediately known.  

Port of Jebel Ali, also known as Mina Jebel Ali is a deep port located in Jebel Ali, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.  Jebel Ali is the world's ninth busiest port, the largest man-made harbor, and the biggest and by far the busiest port in the Middle-East.  Port Jebel Ali was constructed in the late 1970s to supplement the facilities at Port Rashid.