Death toll from Iran port blast hits 40 as fire blazes

Tehran: Iran s president visited the scene of a massive port blast that killed at least 40 people and injured more than 1,000, as a fire still blazed...

Tehran: Iran's president visited the scene of a massive port blast that killed at least 40 people and injured more than 1,000, as a fire still blazed on Sunday more than 24 hours after the explosion.

The blast occurred on Saturday at Shahid Rajaee Port in southern Iran, near the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of world oil output passes.

With choking smoke and air pollution spreading throughout the area, all schools and offices in Bandar Abbas, the nearby capital of Hormozgan province, were ordered closed to allow authorities to focus on the emergency effort, state television said.

The health ministry urged residents to avoid going outside "until further notice" and to use protective masks.

Arriving in Bandar Abbas, President Masoud Pezeshkian expressed his appreciation to first responders, adding "we have come to see first-hand if there is anything or any issue that the government can follow up on".