March 16 (UPI) -- Emergency services in the United Arab Emirates were battling a major blaze at the country's strategically key Fujairah oil export hub on Monday morning after the second drone strike on the facility in two days.
Emirate of Fujairah authorities said in a post on X that no one had been hurt in the attack on the Fujairah Industrial Petroleum Zone and that efforts were ongoing to bring the fire under control. They appealed to people to refrain from spreading misinformation.
"Civil defense teams in the Emirate immediately responded to the incident and are continuing their efforts to control it. The competent authorities call on the public not to circulate rumours and to obtain information only from official sources," wrote the Fujairah Media Office.
The facility is strategically important because it is the only oil export terminal on the UAE's eastern coast, located on the Gulf of Oman, the "good" end of the Strait of Hormuz.
Critically, it means oil tankers servicing the port do not need to run the gauntlet of the 21-mile-wide sea lane that Iran has effectively closed.
