Hundreds injured in major blast at Shahid Rajee port

At least 500 people have been injured in a massive explosion at a port in the southern Iranian city of Bandar Abbas, state media is reporting.

The blast took place at the Shahid Rajee port district on Saturday morning, shattering windows of nearby office buildings.

No fatalities have yet been reported by authorities but footage showed people lying wounded on the street. There are also reports of people being trapped under semi-collapsed buildings.

A major fire is still raging at the site and pictures show huge, billowing black clouds over the wharfs.

Workers were rushing to evacuate and transfer the injured to hospitals, authorities said.

Officials told state TV the explosion had been centred in the port and that several unsealed containers had exploded.

“The source of this incident was the explosion of several containers stored in the Shahid Rajaee Port wharf area,” a crisis management official said, according to BBC Persian.

Iranian state media reported the explosion was so large it damaged buildings and cars in the vicinity. Residents also reported hearing the explosion from several kilometres away.

The number of injured being reported by state media has risen rapidly in the past hour.