Masoud (which speaks subject to anonymity) was born in the big Iranian coastal city of Bandar Abbas and lives there, on the banks of the Strait of Ormuz, a thousand kilometers south of Tehran. The door of the house of his brother, near the port, was torn off by the explosion which ravaged, Saturday April 26 in the middle of the day, the port of Chahid Rajaï. “He was lucky not to be at home at the time of the explosion”he said. One of his friends, employed at the port, lost hearing by an ear. On Saturday being one day worked in Iran, Masoud wonders what happened to employees of companies established on the site, victim of one of the most serious industrial accidents that the country has known in recent years.
Chahid Rajai, a strategic installation, was still prey to flames on Monday. A new assessment established by the authorities reported 46 people who died and more than 1,200 injured for an unknown number of missing. “While the gigantic noise of the explosion was heard at 50 km away, people who were working near the blast have surely been reduced to dust. “Missing” means here “burned and dead” “, add Masoud. ” Today [dimanche]24 hours later, the city is empty. People stay at home, for fear of being poisoned by toxic vapors present in the air ”, he adds. The authorities ordered the closure of the offices and schools in Bandar Abbas, a city of around 650,000 inhabitants, while smoke continues to spread in the air. The Ministry of Health called on the inhabitants to stay at home “Until new order”. A call for blood donations has been launched.
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