The burning explosion in the port of Shahid Rajaee in southern Iran has killed at least 28 people and wounded other 000.
The president of Iran visited the injured in a great explosion that shook one of the main ports of the country, an installation supposedly linked to an earlier delivery of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellants.
The visit of President Masoud fishshkian on Sunday occurred when the toll of Saturday’s explosion in the port of Shahid Rajae out of Bandar Abbas in the province of Hormozgan in southern Iran to 28 people killed and another 1,000 wounds.
Upon arriving at the site, fishshkian thanked the first to respond, announcing: “We have come to see first hand if there is something or any problem that the government can follow.”
“We will try to take care of the families who lost their loved ones, and we will definitely take care of the beloved people who entered,” he said.
Fishshkian had previously ordered an investigation into the cause of the explosion.
Russia’s embassy said Moscow was sending multiple “aircraft specialists” to help fight the fire. According to the Ministry of Emergency Sitations in Russia, one of the airplanes is a dedicated fire fighting plane.
The New York Times cited a person with ties with the body of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard of Iran, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss security issues, saying that what exploded was sodium pchlorate, an important ingredient in solid fuel for missiles.
But the spokesman of the Iran Ministry of Defense, says Talaei-Nik, later told State TV said that “there has been no imported or export load for military fuel or military use in the area.”
The Puerto Customs Office said in a statement taken by state television that the explosion is probably from a fire that exploded in the storage of hazardous and chemical materials.
Iranian state television also described that the fire was under control, saying that emergency workers hoped that would be completely extinguished later on Sunday. During the night, helicopters and heavy load aircraft flew repeated outings on the burning port, throwing seawater on the site.
Also on the scene on Sunday, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni said that “the situation has stabilized in the main areas” of the port, and the workers had resumed the load containers and customs authorization.
Another official on the site, the minister of roads and urban development Farzaneh Sadegh, said that only one area of the port was affected, and the load operations “still continue as normal in the other areas.”
The images of the scene showed firefighters working among overthrown and blackened load containers, and carrying out the body of a victim.
The authorities have closed the roads that lead to the site, and the images of the area have been limited to the Iranian media.
Authorities have also declared a National Duel Day on Monday, and three days of mourning in the province of Hormozgan from Sunday.
Meanwhile, the messages that express solidarity with Iran and the victims of the explosion have come from all over the world.
The United Arab Emirates noticed “solidarity with Iran” about Saudi explosion and Arabia sent condolences, like Pakistan, India, Turkiye, Russia and the United Nations.
Hezbollah of Lebanon also offered condolences, saying that they will, with his “faith and solid will, can overcome this tragic accident.”
In the first reaction of an important European country, the German embassy in Tehran said on Instagram: “Bandar Abbas, we cry with you.”
China’s Foreign Ministry said in an AFP statement on Sunday that three Chinese victims were in a “stable” condition.