The death toll from a massive explosion at Iran's key port of Shahid Rajaei has risen to 70, local authorities said. Meanwhile, Iran's interior minister blamed "negligence" for the incident, which injured more than 1,000 people.
Eskandar Momeni told Iranian state television on the evening of April 28 that "non-compliance with safety measures and negligence" had caused the incident, although it was not immediately clear what caused the fire in the hazardous materials and chemical warehouses.
Momeni said that several "culprits have been identified and summoned by the authorities" but did not provide further details.
Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, director of the crisis management office in the southern province of Hormozgan, where the port that suffered the massive explosion is located, told Iranian state television that most of the injured have already been released from hospital.
On April 27, the day after the explosion, Hossein Zafari, spokesman for Iran's crisis management organization, appeared to blame the improper storage of chemicals found in containers at the port.
Public records suggest that Iran had received shipments of chemical components from China, used for rocket fuel, at the port in February and March. However, an Iranian Defense Ministry spokesman denied that any cargo for military use, including rocket fuel, was being stored at the site where the explosion occurred.
The New York Times cited an anonymous source linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard, who said the substance that exploded was sodium perchlorate, a key ingredient in solid fuel used for missiles.
Amid growing criticism of officials over the incident, renowned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi called for a "free and transparent referendum, under international supervision, to return sovereignty to the people."
In an Instagram post, Panahi described the explosion as a symbol of "the collapse of a regime that has led Iran towards destruction for nearly half a century."/ REL (A2 Televizion)
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