A Massive Explosion and Fire Strikes Iranian Port and Injures Hundreds
The number of injured from an explosion Saturday at a port in southern Iran jumped to 281, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
IRNA quoted Mojtaba Khaledi, the spokesman of Iran’s National Emergency Organization, as giving the figure.
The blast happened at the Rajaei port just outside of Bandar Abbas, a major facility for container shipments for Iran that handles some 80 million tons (72.5 million metric tons) of goods a year.
Social media videos showed black billowing smoke after the blast. Others showed glass blown out of buildings kilometers (miles) away from the epicenter of the explosion, The Associated Press said.
Authorities have offered no cause for the explosion yet. Industrial accidents happen in Iran, particularly at its aging oil facilities that struggle for access to parts under international sanctions. But Iranian state TV specifically ruled out any energy infrastructure as causing or being damaged in the blast.
Mehrdad Hasanzadeh, a provincial disaster management official, told Iranian state TV that first responders were trying to reach the area while others were attempting to evacuate the site.
