A major explosion this morning killed more than 500 people and destroyed much of the port of Iranian port southwestern Bandar Abbas along the coast of the Persian Gulf.
A video posted to YouTube shows a close-up moment of the explosion as the tanker truck passes through the far fire in the port.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkbdrxk8xt4
Another video Posted X by workers inspecting the building in the aftermath shows that when a helicopter drops water into a fire still burning there, black smoke rising from Shahid Rajae port, there is significant damage to the building.
The port is located in southwestern Iran and is one of Iran’s major oil facilities. To date, 516 people have been reported to have died, a spokesman for the country’s emergency services said.
The explosion occurred when Iran began nuclear negotiations for the third round with the US in Oman. However, so far there have been no indication of a link between the two events.
Iran’s news service reported that the fuel tank “exploded for unknown reasons”, and port operations had been suspended. State Broadcasting Station Ilib said the explosion occurred in the port’s chemical and sulfur regions.
Hossein Zafari, a spokesman for Iran’s crisis management organization, appeared to blame the explosion on the poor storage of chemicals in Shahid Rajaee’s containers.
“The explosion was caused by the chemicals in the container,” he told Iran’s Irna News Agency. “Previously, the Director of Crisis Management issued a warning to the port during his visit, pointing out the possible danger.”
