Tehran [Iran], September 6 (ANI): At least 11 individuals lost their lives and seven others sustained injuries following a fuel tanker explosion during a traffic collision in western Iran on Saturday, according to state-run broadcaster IRIB.
The tragedy took place on an intercity route linking Sanandaj County in Kurdestan province with Hamedan County in Hamedan province. Babak Hodaei, head of the emergency medical services at Kurdestan University of Medical Sciences, stated that the blast ignited several adjacent automobiles.
Emergency responders transported the injured to a medical facility situated in Sanandaj, as reported by Xinhua news agency, while rescue efforts at the location remained ongoing.
This incident follows an event earlier in July where an oil tanker detonated in the Strait of Hormuz after hitting a naval mine, local media reported.
The ship struck the explosive device after purportedly drifting away from paths established by Tehran. According to accounts from Iran’s semi-official Mehr News Agency, the vessel strayed from designated channels and entered a zone restricted from safe maritime transit, ignoring prior alerts.
The Strait of Hormuz links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, serving as a vital energy corridor that transports oil and liquefied natural gas from major Gulf producers worldwide.
Separately, marking an intensification of tensions between Washington and Tehran, American military personnel targeted three Iranian crude oil tankers. This action followed a strike in which the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) discharged ballistic missiles at two United States Navy warships, the US military announced on Saturday.
United States Central Command reported that an American aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer managed to bypass multiple hostile incoming attacks without sustaining any American personnel injuries.
“US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces struck three Iranian crude oil carriers, Sept. 5, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched ballistic missiles towards two US Navy warships patrolling regional waters,” CENTCOM said. (ANI)