Dubai: The death toll from a powerful explosion at Iran’s biggest port of Bandar Abbas has risen to at least 40, with more than 1,200 people injured, state media reported, as firefighters worked to fully extinguish the fire. Saturday’s blast took place in the Shahid Rajaee section of the port, Iran’s biggest container hub, shattering windows for several kms around, tearing metal strips off shipping containers and badly damaging goods inside, state media said. The incident occurred as Iran held a third round of nuclear talks with the United States in Oman.
Fires kept breaking out in different parts of the affected area, according to state media, with helicopters and fire fighters continuing efforts to extinguish them. Chemicals at the port were suspected to have fuelled the explosion, but the exact cause was not clear and Iran’s defence ministry denied international media reports that the blast may be linked to the mishandling of solid fuel used for missiles. A spokesperson for the ministry told state TV the reports were “aligned with enemy sysops”, saying that the blast-hit area did not contain any military cargo.
Plumes of black smoke rose above the site and pieces of twisted metal and debris lay scattered across the blast site. The head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society said the fire was 90% extinguished and officials said port activities had resumed in unaffected parts of Shahid Rajaee.
