A massive explosion tore through an apartment building on Saturday in Iran's port city of Bandar Abbas, killing a 4-year-old girl as local media footage purportedly showed a security force member being carried out by rescuers. The explosion was reported a day before a planned naval drill by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes. The US military has warned Iran not to threaten its warships or commercial traffic in the strait, on which Bandar Abbas sits.
At least 14 others injured in the explosion
State television quoted a local fire official as blaming the blast on a gas leak. Media reported at least 14 others injured in the explosion. A local newspaper, Sobh-e Sahel, aired footage of a correspondent speaking in front of the building. The footage included a sequence that showed a man in a green security force uniform being carried out on a stretcher. He wore a neck brace and appeared to be in pain, his left hand covering the branch insignia on his uniform.
The newspaper did not acknowledge the security force member being carried out elsewhere in its reporting. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard did not discuss the blast, other than to deny that a Guard navy commander had been hurt.
Another explosion blamed on a gas explosion
Another explosion blamed on a gas explosion Saturday in the southwestern city of Ahvaz killed five people, state media reported. Iran remains tense over a threat by US President Donald Trump to potentially launch a military strike on the country over the killing of peaceful protesters or the possible mass execution of those detained in a major crackdown over the demonstrations.
