Research committee releases report on port blast causes

EghtesadOnline: The Committee to Investigate the Causes of the Fire Incident in Shahid Rajaee Port said in a statement on Monday evening that after holding several meetings with experts in different fields, it reached the conclusion that "the failure to observe safety principles and passive defense standards was confirmed to committee members."

"There have been discrepancies in some cases, and the security and judicial bodies are seriously seeking to identify the wrongdoers," it added.

"Determining the cause of this incident requires a thorough and fully-fledged investigation of its various aspects, which, due to expert requirements, requires technical and laboratory processes; however, without wasting time, its implementation steps are being pursued and the final results will be revealed to the public as soon as possible," the committed concluded.

Earlier today, Iran's interior minister blamed "negligence" for the massive explosion and the inferno.

A powerful blast rocked the port on Saturday after a fuel tanker detonated. The explosion triggered a large fire, which was put out earlier today.

The officials of Hormozgan, where the Shaid Rajaee port is located, said earlier on Monday that the fire at the port was extinguished, adding that the death toll from the blast and the subsequent inferno rose to 70.

They also said that the cleanup operations and debris removal will take about 20 days.