Iran port explosion leaves large craters
Today's view: Aftermath of explosion at Iranian port in Bandar Abbas
Welcome to Views From Above, a newsletter bringing you satellite imagery snapshots of major world events. Today, we are looking at the aftermath of an explosion at Iran’s Shahid Rajaee port in Bandar Abbas.
On April 26th, a fire in Iran’s Shahid Rajaee port ignited an explosion, which state officials report killed more than 50 people and injured over 1,000 more. Areas of the port continued to burn for several days after the initial explosion.
The satellite imagery above (released by Maxar) shows the port still smoldering on May 2nd. A massive crater can be seen among shipping containers destroyed by the explosion, which reportedly shattered windows several kilometers from the port.
State authorities are investigating the cause of the incident, with initial comments from officials pointing generally to a “failure to observe safety procedures” and a “stockpile of hazardous goods and chemical materials stored in the port area” as the reason for the blast. State officials did not offer specifics on which chemicals or items may have caused the incident.
However, CNN has previously reported that the port was a receiving point for hundreds of tons of chemicals essential to fueling Iran’s ballistic missile program. The New York Times reported more specifically that a person with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said sodium perchlorate, a major ingredient in solid fuel for missiles, is what exploded at the port.
The incident bears a grim resemblance to the 2020 Beirut port explosion, in which a fire ignited thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate, resulting in an explosion that killed more than 200 people and injured over 7,000.
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