Huge Explosion at Iranian Port, 5 Dead, over 700 Injured
NEW DELHI, Apr 26: At least five people were killed and more than 700 others injured in a major explosion at Iran’s Shahid Rajaee port in the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas on Saturday, Iranian state-run news media outlets reported.
“Unfortunately, at least four deaths have been confirmed by rescuers,” the head of the Red Crescent Society’s Relief and Rescue Organization, Babak Mahmoudi, said. The customs office at the port said in a statement carried by state TV that the cause of the blast was probably a fire that broke out at the hazmat and chemical materials storage depot.
A semi-official Iranian news agency also said authorities were concerned that the casualty figure might go up considering the number of port employees at work at the time of the explosion. The injured have been transferred to nearby medical centres in the southern province of Hormozgan where the Shahid Rajaee port is located.
A local official told Iranian state-run news agencies that the blast occurred due to explosion of several containers stored in the Shahid Rajaee Port wharf area. The local crisis management official added that the injured are being evacuated and transferred to medical centres.
Several videos of the blast have flooded social media. Some of them shared on X showed a mushroom cloud forming after the explosion. Semi-official Tasnim news agency added that the port’s activities were suspended to extinguish the fire. Given the large number of port employees, “many people were probably injured or even killed in the incident.” The shockwave was so powerful that it severely damaged most port buildings, according to people who spoke to the news agency.
Residents reported feeling the ground shake and hearing the blast up to 50 kilometres away, with the sound carrying to nearby towns as well. The blast shattered windows within a radius of several kilometres, Iranian media said. Footage shared online showed cars with their glasses shattered.
(Manas Dasgupta)
