TEHRAN: Firefighters in Iran battled raging fires on Monday at the country’s largest commercial port, two days after a massive explosion killed at least 40 people, state TV reported.
The blast took place on Saturday at Shahid Rajaee Port in Iran’s south near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a waterway through which one-fifth of global oil output passes.
It killed at least 40 people and injured more than 1,000 others, officials said, after triggering smaller explosions and fires in nearby containers.
Iran’s state TV showed images of firefighters dousing the flames, and said the damage will be assessed after the fire is fully brought under control.
Thick, swirling plumes of smoke rose over the stacked containers at the site, the TV images showed.
It was not immediately clear what caused the explosion, but the port’s customs office said it likely resulted from a fire that broke out at the hazardous and chemical materials storage depot.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered a probe into the incident to determine if there were “any negligence or intent”.
Smoke, then a fireball
CCTV images on social media showed the incident began gradually, with a small fire and orange-brown smoke before a fireball erupted.
The images appeared to show the small fire starting among a few containers stacked outside across from a warehouse. A small forklift truck drove past the smoking area and men walked nearby.
About one minute and eight seconds after the small fire and smoke were visible, a fireball erupted as vehicles passed nearby. Men ran for their lives.
President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday visited hospitals treating the wounded in the nearby city of Bandar Abbas.
Since the explosion, authorities have ordered all schools and offices in the area closed and urged residents to avoid going outside “until further notice” and to use protective masks.
