Deaths reported in major blast at Shahid Rajee port

At least four people were killed and 500 others injured in a massive explosion in a port near the southern city of Bandar Abbas, according to state media.

The explosion took place at the port of Shahid Rajaee on Saturday morning, Blow the windows of nearby office buildings and cause the roof of at least one building.

Images have shown that people were fleeing the quays at the time of the explosion and others injured in the street. There are also relationships of people trapped under the collapsed walls.

A fire is always raging on the site of the container terminal and the images show huge clouds of black smoke that escapes on the quays.

Authorities sent helicopter teams to try to turn off the flames, while the wounded were precipitated by doctors in neighboring hospitals, said the authorities.

Some workers are “still trapped under collapsed roofs and” we are trying to save them, “said an official in local media, according to BBC Persian.

Shared online images show that people are preparing for explosion, then fleeing the area.

According to information, witnesses say that the explosion occurred after a fire and spread to unleavened containers storing “flammable materials”, most likely, chemicals.

“The source of this incident was the explosion of several containers stored in the Shahid Rajaee Port Wharf area,” said a regional crisis management manager.

An analyst company said it thought that the contained containers had contained solid fuel for Iranian missiles.

The fire was the result of “poor management of a solid fuel expedition intended to be used in Iranian ballistic missiles”, according to Ambrey Intelligence, a global maritime risk company.

The company said that it had found 12 merchant ships for less than five naval miles from the explosion when the incident occurred, seven of which had been granted to the port at the time.

Shahid Rajaee is the largest commercial port in Iran, located on the South Iranian coast near the Hormuz Strait, a large expedition channel for oil freight.

It is located about 20 km (12 miles) west of Bandar Abbas, the capital of the province of Hormozan.

The Iranian National Petroleum Production Society said that the port explosion had “no link” with oil refineries, fuel and pipelines in the country, local media reported.

The explosion was so large The residents said they heard and feel the explosion at 50 km (31 miles).

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed his “deep regret and sympathy” for the victims and announced a government investigation.