Massive explosion strikes port city of Bandar Abbas in Iran, at least 47 injured | WATCH

Bandar Abbas, a port city in Iran, has been struck by a huge explosion and fire, resulting in several injuries, according to reports by the state media.

It wasn’t immediately clear if there were any casualties from the blast, Associated Press reported quoting the media. The blast appears to have happened at Rajaei port in the city.

According to a report by Reuters, at least 47 people were injured in the incident and are being taken to hospitals.

Videos and photos of the explosion are going viral on social media.

The videos showed a huge plume of black smoke rising up from the blast site.

There is no official confirmation from the authorities regarding the cause of the massive blast.

“The cause of this incident was the explosion of several containers stored in the Shahid Rajaee Port wharf area. We are currently evacuating and transferring the injured to medical centres,” a local crisis management official told state TV, as per the Reuters report.

Social media users reported that the blast was so powerful that it caused damage to nearby buildings.

According to the report by Reuters, National Iranian Oil Refining and Distribution Company has said in a statement that the blast in Bandar Abbas did not impact energy facilities. It said that “operations at facilities in Bandar Abbas are continuing without interruption”.

The blast shattered windows within a radius of several kilometres, Iranian media said, with footage shared online showing a mushroom cloud forming following the explosion.

In 2020, computers at the same port were hit by a cyberattack that caused massive backups on waterways and roads leading to the facility. The Washington Post had reported that Iran’s arch-foe Israel appeared to be behind that incident as retaliation for an earlier Iranian cyberattack.

About Rajaei port

Rajaei port mainly handles container traffic and also has oil tanks and other petrochemical facilities.