Several containers at a key port in the south of the country blew up in a huge explosion on Saturday, authorities said, with initial reports speaking of scores of injured.
State media said the explosion took place at the port of Shahid Rajaee, more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) south of the capital, Tehran.
Authorities have offered no cause for the explosion yet.
The disaster comes as Iran is holding a third round of with the US in Oman.
What do we know about the explosion?
The state-run Fars news agency reported that 47 people were injured, according to initial estimates, but state TV later said that number had risen to at least 115.
“The cause of this incident was the explosion of several containers stored in the Shahid Rajee Port wharf area. We are currently evacuating and transferring the injured to medical centers,” a local crisis management official told state TV.
The head of the Red Crescent Society in Hormozgan province, where the port is situated, said four rapid response teams had been sent to the scene after the explosion.
Iranian media said the blast shattered windows within a radius of several kilometers (miles).
Shahid Rajaee is the most advanced container port in Iran, according to the official IRNA news agency, and is located 23 kilometers west of Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan province.
More to follow.
Edited by: Roshni Majumdar
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