Death toll from Iran port blast rises to 18

The death toll from a massive explosion and fire at a major Iranian port has climbed to 18, with over 800 people injured, Iranian state television reported on Sunday.

The blast occurred on Saturday at the Sina container yard, part of the key Shahid Rajaei port in Bandar Abbas, located more than 1,000 kilometres south of Tehran.

Emergency services confirmed the fire was now “under control but not extinguished,” with thick black smoke still rising from the site, according to a state TV correspondent reporting live from the scene.

Authorities had initially reported 14 deaths before revising the figure. Most of the injured have been transferred to local hospitals for treatment, officials said.

The explosion, which hit the Shahid Rajaee section of the port, occurred as Iran began a third round of nuclear talks with the United States in Oman, but there was no immediate indication of a link between the two events.

Hossein Zafari, a spokesperson for Iran’s crisis management organisation, appeared to blame the explosion on poor storage of chemicals in containers at Shahid Rajaee.

“The cause of the explosion was the chemicals inside the containers,” he told Iran’s ILNA news agency.

“Previously, the Director General of Crisis Management had given warnings to this port during their visits and had pointed out the possibility of danger,” Zafari said.

An Iranian government spokesperson, however, said that although chemicals had likely caused the blast, it was not yet possible to determine the exact reason.

(With inputs from The Express Tribune)