The death toll in the massive explosion that tore through Iran’s largest commercial port has risen to 25, while more than 800 people are injured, AFP quoted local media on Sunday.
The blast occurred Saturday at Shahid Rajaee Port in southern Iran, near the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil output passes.
According to the port’s customs office, the explosion probably resulted from a fire that broke out at the hazardous and chemical materials storage depot. A regional emergency official said several containers had exploded.
ALSO READ: Iran says intensity of port explosion fire has increased; 14 killed
According to a New York Times report, a person with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said that what exploded was sodium perchlorate — a major ingredient in solid fuel for missiles.
Iranian news agency Tasnim, citing the provincial judiciary chief, gave an updated toll on Sunday of 25 people killed. State TV said around 800 people were injured.
‘Fire under control but not out’: Report
“The fire is under control but still not out,” a state TV correspondent reported from the site around 20 hours after the blast.
The explosion was so powerful that it was felt and heard about 50 kilometres (30 miles) away, Fars news agency reported.
Iran’s interior minister Eskandar Momeni said that “the situation has stabilised in the main areas” of the port.
He told state TV that workers had resumed loading containers and customs clearance.
Images from news agency IRNA on Saturday showed rescuers and survivors walking along a wide boulevard carpeted with debris after the blast at Shahid Rajaee, more than 1,000 kilometres south of Tehran.
Flames could be seen engulfing a truck trailer and blood stained the side of a crushed car, while a helicopter dropped water on massive black smoke clouds billowing from behind stacked shipping containers.
“The shockwave was so strong that most of the port buildings were severely damaged,” Tasnim news agency reported.
(With AFP inputs)
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