at least eight dead and 750 injured after the explosion in a port in the south of the country – Liberation

A « Powerful explosion » In the largest Iranian commercial port left at least eight dead on Saturday and 750 injured, the authorities announced, the firefighters still fighting against a fire that won intensity in the evening.

The Shahid Rajai port, where 85 % of Iran’s goods spend, is located more than a thousand kilometers south of Tehran. Around noon, a « Powerful explosion » occurred on a platform, the blast being heard tens of kilometers around. The port is close to the big coastal city of Bandar Abbas, on The Strait of Ormuz Where does a fifth of world oil production pass through. An investigation to establish the causes of the disaster was ordered by President Massoud Pezeshkian.

« The accident left eight dead and 750 injured »said Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni, adding that reinforcements from Tehran and other cities were expected. « We hope to turn off the fire in the coming hours », he said.

Fueled by the wind, the fire won in « intensity » in the evening and « It is possible that fire spread to other areas and other containers »has indicated state television. Live images showed flames ravaging containers.

In a statement taken up by state television, the Port customs said during the day that the disaster was probably due to a fire in a storage of dangerous and chemical materials. « The incident is due to the explosion of several containers stored in the Shahid Rajaï port area », said a local rescue official, Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, on state television.

The number of employees present at the port at the time of the explosion is not immediately known. All schools in the area will be closed on Sunday, state television also announced.

Images from the official IRNA agency showed an influx of rescuers after the disaster and a car covered with blood stains embedded in a truck, as well as wounded evacuated from a fast track covered with debris and whose concrete safety slide has been strongly damaged.

A call for blood donations was launched by the Hormozgan province blood transfusion center to help the many injured.

The United Arab Emirates have transmitted a message of solidarity to Iran, evoking « The dead, the hundreds of wounded and significant damage ». Three Chinese nationals were « Slightly injured »according to Chinese state television CCTV, quoting the Bandar Abbas consulate.

A video sequence of a surveillance camera relayed by the Iranian agency Mehr shows an explosion in a hangar, which causes a thick cloud of smoke and dust.

« The shock wave was so strong that most of the port buildings were seriously damaged, » said the press agency Tasnim. The national oil distribution company, however, said that the oil facilities had not been damaged and specified that they operated « Normally ».

The explosion occurred when Iranian and American delegations had just concluded a third cycle of negotiations on the Iranian nuclearafter previous exchanges qualified as constructive by the two countries, enemies for four decades.

Update at 8:23 p.m. with the new 8 -dead assessment and more than 750 injured.