A massive explosion shook Shahid Rajaee port in Bandar Abbas, the southern Iranian port city, on Saturday, resulting in at least 406 injuries, as reported by Iranian state media. The reason for the explosion is still unknown.
A semi-official Iranian news outlet reported that officials are worried that there could be possible fatalities due to the number of port workers present during the explosion.
The wounded have been moved to local medical facilities in the southern Hormozgan province, home to the Shahid Rajaee port.
Explosion caused due to detonation of multiple containers
A local official informed Iranian state-run news outlets that the explosion was caused by the detonation of multiple containers located in the Shahid Rajaee Port dock area. The regional crisis management official mentioned that the wounded are being relocated and taken to healthcare facilities.
A different report from Reuters pointed out that the explosion happened as Iran entered a third round of nuclear discussions with the United States in Oman.
Numerous videos of the explosion have inundated social media. Some users on X posted images of a mushroom cloud emerging following the explosion.
“The explosion occurred in a part of the Shahid Rajaee port dock, and we are extinguishing the fire,” state TV quoted Esmaeil Malekizadeh, a regional port official, as saying.
Shahid Rajaee is Iran’s most advanced container port
Shahid Rajaee, situated 1000 kilometres south of Tehran, is Iran’s most sophisticated container port, located 23 kilometres west of Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan province, and north of the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of global oil production flows.
Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, the leader of the province’s crisis management authority, has informed state TV that the incident was caused by the explosion of multiple containers.
