Tehran, Apr 26 (UNI) At least four people were killed and 516 others injured on Saturday after a massive explosion rocked Shahid Rajaee Port in the city of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran's Hormozgan province, local media reported.

The wounded have been transferred to nearby medical centers, Babak Yektaparast, spokesman for the country's Emergency Medical Services Organization, told the semi-official Fars news agency.

Yektaparast added that 90 hospital beds in Shiraz, the capital city of the neighboring Fars province, have been ready for the hospitalization of those potentially wounded in the incident.

According to China's Consulate General in Bandar Abbas, three Chinese citizens sustained minor injuries in the explosion. They are now in good condition after receiving medical treatment.

In an earlier report, the official news agency IRNA said the blast occurred at a gas tank in the port, sending a huge column of smoke into the sky and causing extensive damage to nearby buildings and cars.

In remarks to Fars later, Hossein Zafari, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Organization, said the blast was caused by chemical materials in a container at the port, Xinhua news reported.

Meanwhile, the Iranian government's spokeswoman, Fatemeh Mohajerani, warned against any "hasty speculations" about the cause of the incident before relevant authorities complete the investigations.

She added that what had been confirmed so far was that there were containers, probably with chemical materials, at a corner of the port.

Rapid reaction and rescue teams have been dispatched to the scene, and all port activities have been suspended, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, adding that the number of injured is likely increasing.

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