Masoud (who speaks on condition of anonymity) was born in the large coastal Iranian city of Bandar Abbas and lives there, on the shores of the Strait of Hormuz, about 1,000 kilometers south of Tehran. The door of his brother's house, near the port, was blown off by the explosion that devastated Shahid Rajaee Port on Saturday, April 26, in the middle of the day. "He was lucky not to be home at the time of the explosion," he said. One of Masoud's friends, employed at the port, lost hearing in one ear. Since Saturday is a working day in Iran, he wonders what happened to the employees of the companies located on site, where one of the most serious industrial accidents in the country in years took place.

Shahid Rajaee, a strategic facility, was still ablaze on Monday. A new report from the authorities stated that 46 people have died and more than 1,200 were injured, with an unknown number still missing. "While the gigantic noise of the explosion was heard 50 km away, the people who were working near the blast were surely reduced to dust. 'Missing' here means 'burned and dead,'" Masoud said. "Today [Sunday], 24 hours later, the city is empty. People stay at home, fearing being poisoned by toxic fumes in the air," he added. Authorities have ordered offices and schools to close in Bandar Abbas, a city of about 650,000 residents, as the smoke continued to spread in the air. The Ministry of Health has called on residents to stay indoors "until further notice." A call for blood donations has been issued.

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