A massive explosion tore Iran’s biggest commercial port on Saturday, killing at least 25 people and injuring nearly 800 others, according to state media.
The explosion occurred at Shahydrajaei port in Bandar Abbas City, southern Iran, near the Strait of Hormuz, from which a fifth of the world’s oil output passed.
The port’s customs office said in a statement carried by state television that the explosion was likely due to a fire that erupted in a storehouse of dangerous and chemical materials.
Images from the official news agency’s IRNA showed rescuers and survivors walking along a debris-covered boulevard along the rag after the explosion at Shahid Rajay, more than 1,000 km (620 miles) south of Tehran.
The flames swallowed the truck trailer, staining the sides of the car, where blood was crushed, and helicopters dropped water over the giant cloud of black smoke swirling from behind the stacked shipping container.
Citing local emergency services, state television reported that “hundreds of people have been moved to nearby medical centers,” and state transfusion centers issued a donation call.
The explosion came months after Iran’s most fatal work accident in years. A September coal mine explosion caused by a gas leak killed more than 50 people in Tabas, the east of the country.
The Saturday explosion has both sides reported progress amid high levels of Iranian US talks in Oman over Tehran’s nuclear program.