At least 14 deaths and more than 700 injured after a strong explosion in a port in southern Iran | International

At least 14 people died and more than 700 were injured this Saturday in a strong explosion in the port of Shahid Rajai, located in the southern city of Bandar Abbas, an important oil center in Iran, as reported by the state television. The accident occurred in the customs area at noon local time for still unknown reasons.

“The initial investigations show that the cause of the explosion were containers in which chemicals were kept, which exploited and caused these consequences,” said the spokesman for the national crisis management organization, Hossein Zafari, according to the Isna agency.

Zafari added that the explosion was so powerful that it was listened to in a radius of 50 kilometers and heard tremors in some nearby areas, while the wide wave damaged buildings and cars in the area.

The first vice -president of Iran, Mohamad Reza Aref, ordered “an immediate and exhaustive investigation to determine the exact cause of the accident and the extent of the damage”. For his part, Mohammad Ashuri, governor of the province of Hormozgan, where the accident occurred, said that “the origin of the explosion is still unknown”.

Local televisions showed images of a huge black clouds on the port, as well as panic scenes in the area.

Port activities have been suspended so that the security and rescue forces can quickly control the situation, according to the Tasnim agency.

Iran National Refining and Petroleum Distribution Company reported in a declaration that the activities relating to its company have not been affected and continue to operate on Bandar Abás, an important oil center in the country.

This accident occurs on the same day when an Iranian delegation He met in Oman with representatives of the United States to reach a nuclear agreement. Tehran’s goal, as insured by his foreign minister before the meeting, is “to end the unjust sanctions and generate confidence in the peaceful character of his nuclear program”. From Washington they indicated that the meeting lasted four hours and was “positive and productive”, but they admit that there is still “a lot to do”.

This port has undergone a computer attack that paralyzed its activities in 2020 and that Iran accused Israel. Shahid Rajai is a commercial and industrial port in Bandar Abás, the capital of the province of Hormozgan, and has an area of ​​over 2,400 hectares and an annual ability to receive over 88 million tons of goods.