At least 40 dead and 800 injuries – Diepresse.com

The number of fatalities after the explosion in the Shahid Rajaee port in the Southern Iranian Hormusgan Province on Saturday has continued to increase and is now at 40. According to the state news agency IRNA, more than 1,000 people were injured in the incident on Saturday – six people have been missing for 24 hours.

According to government spokeswoman Fateheh Mohadscherani, hospitals in the province are overwhelmed with the treatment of the many seriously injured and therefore many patients have to be moved to other cities. The residents of the Hormusgan province are still called to donate blood for the injured.

« The cause of the explosion was chemicals in containers, » said a spokesman for the disaster protection of the Ilna news agency. On state television it was said that improper handling of combustible materials had contributed to the explosion. A government spokesman said, although chemicals have been exploded, the exact cause has not yet been determined. There were no indications that Iranian adversaries Israel is responsible. President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered an investigation and sent his Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni to the place of fire.

Investigations not yet completed

In the port of the Southern Iranian city of Bandar Abbas, several containers have exploded on the Kaianlagen, a local crisis manager said on television. Warnings were repeatedly pronounced and pointed out to possible dangers. Oil systems are not affected, said the state oil sales and refineries.

The television showed recordings of a high black-orange cloud of smoke that rose over the harbor. An office building with a blown -out doors and ruins could be seen on further recordings. According to media reports, bare window panes within a radius of several kilometers. According to authorities, the port operation was hired.

In recent years, a number of fatal incidents have occurred in the Iranian sectors for energy and industry. Several of these incidents have been attributed to negligence, including refiner beaches and an explosion in a coal mining. Iran had held his arch enemy Israel responsible for other incidents. Israel had attacked goals in Iran in connection with its nuclear program. Iran also described an incident of Iranian gas pipelines in February 2024 as an Israeli attack.

The country’s largest container port

In recent years, a number of fatal incidents have occurred in the Iranian sectors for energy and industry. Several of these incidents have been attributed to negligence, including refiner beaches and an explosion in a coal mining. Iran had held his arch enemy Israel responsible for other incidents. Israel had attacked goals in Iran in connection with its nuclear program. Iran also described an incident of Iranian gas pipelines in February 2024 as an Israeli attack.

The affected Shahid Rajaee is the largest container port in the country and belongs to the main harbor of Bandar Abbas. The port is located on the north bank of the Hormuz street in the Persian Gulf and is one of the most important economic areas in the country because of its strategic location. There, more than a third of the Iranian Seehandel are handled.

Refineries not affected

The head of the crisis management authorities, Mehrdad Hasanzadeh, said that several containers had exploded in the port. « We are in the process of evacuating the injuries and bringing them to surrounding clinics. » According to the ISNA news agency, the Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Area ordered investigations into the cause of the explosion and the extent of the damage.

The explosion is not in connection with « oil refineries, fuel tanks, distribution systems or oil pipelines », it was said in a statement by the state company that is spread by local media for the distribution of products in the oil industry. Accordingly, the refineries in Bandar Abbas were in operation without interruption.

Container terminal important Iranian economic zone

The port city on the Persian Gulf is one of the most important economic zones in the country, in which more than a third of the Iranian Seehandel is handled. With the country’s largest container terminal, the port city of Seehandel maintains 80 internationally known ports and 21 line shipping companies.

In September last year, one of the most serious accidents of work had occurred in Iran for years. At that time, more than 50 people were killed in the explosion in a coal mining in the eastern Tabas. (APA/AFP)