Israel's Channel 2 reports claim that city was site of "unreported nuclear site"; Iranian Fars news agency says dozens injured in city of Qavzin.
By YASSER OKBI, REUTERSMap indicating city of Qavzin, Iran(photo credit: screenshot)
A fire broke out in an oil depot in northwestern Iran on Tuesday. There were conflicting reports of casualties, with state news agency IRNA reporting none and the Iranian Fars news agency reporting that there were around fifty people injured, some seriously.IRNA said firefighters were trying to extinguish the fire, which broke out at an oil storage facility in the south western part of the city of Qazvin.Israel's Channel 2 News reported on Tuesday evening that in the past it was claimed that Qavzin hosted a "unreported nuclear site" that contained stored uranium. These claims were never verified according to Channel 2. "Firefighters are trying to prevent the spread of the fire at a car oil storage facility," said Ali Mohammad Ahani, the director general of Qazvin governor's disaster management authority, quoted by IRNA, adding that there were no reports of casualties.IRNA said one firefighters had been overcome by gas fumes.Qazvin governor said the cause of the incident was still unknown, according to IRNA, and the mayor of the city denied some reports that that an 18,000 litre storage tank could ignite.According to Fars, security and rescue officials had closed off a two kilometer radius around the explosion site. In January of last year Israeli intelligence officials confirmed that an explosion damaged Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, which is being used to enrich uranium. Jpost.com staff contributed to this report.
