Explosion, Fire At Petrochemical Company In Southern Iran Leave 2 Injured

Smoke billows from the fire at the Kavoshgaran Mahshahr petrochemical plant in the port city of Mahshahr in Khuzestan province on April 1, 2022.
Smoke billows from the fire at the Kavoshgaran Mahshahr petrochemical plant in the port city of Mahshahr in Khuzestan province on April 1, 2022.

An explosion and a large fire in the Bandar Mahshahr Petrochemical Special Economic Zone in southern Iran have left at least two workers injured.

The blast and the blaze happened in Kavoshgaran Mahshahr petrochemical plant in the port city of Mahshahr in Khuzestan province in the early hours of Friday.

According to a spokesman of the company, Mohsen Adibi, the fire has been contained and the cause of the accident is being investigated.

The CEO of the economic zone, Omid Shahidinia, said a tanker loading a hydrocarbon product caught fire and it spread to other parts of the plant.

In February, the petrochemical company came under attack reportedly by armed men, who set a big fire to a dozen vehicles.

The public relations manager of the firm, Hamid Danesh, told Fars news at the time that “breaking the windows of the security compound, like in this incident, clashing with the security forces of the company and also theft have been among similar cases in recent months."

There have been many explosions and fires in Iran’s military and industrial sites since mid-2020, with authorities not giving a full explanation in many instances. However, they have blamed Israel for a series of spectacular sabotage attacks on nuclear facilities, including two explosions at Natanz uranium enrichment center.

The oil and gas industries have also experienced many incidents of exploding pipelines and refineries where large fires were reported.