A deadly fire erupted on Wednesday at a huge fuel storage tank in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan Province, killing three people and sending a pall of black smoke into the air.
“The blaze was caused by welding work on the tank owned by a bitumen production company,” Ahmad Pouyafar, the governor of Bandar Abbas, said.
Two people were also taken to hospital, ISNA reported.
The incident occurred at around 1 p.m. local time and firefighters arrived to extinguish the blaze.
“The fire is large and it is difficult to douse burning fuels,” Pouyafar said, expecting firefighting operations to last through the night.
Iran’s petroleum industry has been hit by similar incidents in recent months, including the explosion of an oil well in Khuzestan Province and a fire at Tehran Oil Refinery in October.
Add new comment
Read our comment policy before posting your viewpoints