Thursday, the Aqaba Penal Court of First Instance held its first session on the gas leak incident.

The Secretary-General of the Judicial Council and the media spokesman for the Judicial Council, Judge Walid Kanakrieh, said that the defendants appeared before the court after they were brought from the detention centers.

Kanakrieh said that the defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges issued against them.

The court decided to call the prosecution's witnesses and to postpone the hearing to another date.

On June 27, 13 people were killed and at least 260 were injured due to toxic gas being leaked from a tanker in the port of Aqaba.

On July 3, the Minister of Interior, Mazen Al-Faraya, and the Minister of State for Media Affairs, the official spokesperson for the government, Faisal Al-Shboul, held a press conference at the Prime Ministry to announce the results of the investigation into the Aqaba port incident.

The Minister of State for Media Affairs revealed that the number of people who are still receiving treatment in hospitals due to the Aqaba port incident is 12.

Shboul said the response of the state institutions was “immediate and professional.”

“The health system in Aqaba proved to be highly efficient in handling the effects of the tragic accident,” Shboul noted, adding that the government field hospital received 45 percent of the cases.

For his part, Faraya pointed out that the tanker which was filled with toxic gas was transferred to a landfill in the Swaqa area.

“The Aqaba Incident Investigation Committee listened to all officials of the Aqaba Ports Management Company,” Faraya noted.

As for the cause of the incident, Faraya said that it occurred as the iron rope which broke was not suitable to carry the weight of the load, noting that the weight of the tanker is three times bigger than the load that the rope can carry.

“Failure to take safety precautions in handling hazardous materials is one of the causes of the Aqaba accident,” he continued.

Faraya indicated that the report proved that the necessary precautions for public safety were not taken in handling such dangerous materials, and that one of the direct causes of the accident was the failure to take the necessary precautions.

He added that those involved in dealing with the incident were irresponsible, and on that day there was no follow-up by the company's management regarding maintenance operations.