(LONDON) — Israel’s humanitarian aid obligations in Gaza and its ban on UNRWA, the United Nations agency that provides civil and medical services to Palestinian refugees, are under examination in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as a week of hearings began on Monday.
Forty countries and four international organizations are set to participate in the oral proceedings, the court has said.
The weeklong hearing comes after the U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) voted to request an advisory opinion from the ICJ concerning “the obligations of Israel in relation to the presence and activities of the United Nations, other international organizations and third States.” The United States, Israel’s close international ally, was one of 12 countries to vote against the request.
The court will evaluate the legality of Israel’s decision to ban UNRWA, the U.N.’s Relief and Works’ Agency, the dedicated U.N. body to support Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza. It will then issue an advisory opinion, which has been requested by the UNGA, and which will be legally nonbinding. The ICJ’s ruling will not be legally binding, however, but could add to mounting pressure on Israel to reopen the Gaza crossings for aid deliveries.
Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, voted to ban UNRWA from operating in Gaza and the West Bank in October 2024. Israel’s government has long accused UNRWA of turning a blind eye to employees who support or belong to Hamas, the militant organization that led a terror attack on Israel in October 2023. UNRWA denies those claims. The ban came into effect at the end of January 2025. UNRWA is the main distributor of aid within Gaza.
Israel has long maintained that humanitarian aid has been looted by Hamas. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, says the ban on aid into Gaza is designed to pressure Hamas to release 59 hostages, including one American who is presumed to be alive.
UNRWA Commissioner General Phillipe Lazzarini issued a statement saying he “welcome[d]” the ICJ hearing and that the agency worked in Palestinian territories to “address overwhelming needs.”
Those needs have become more acute since Israel blocked the flow of all goods into Gaza on March 2, international aid organizations said. The World Food Programme said on April 24 that its warehouses had run out of flour in Gaza, and warned the “situation inside the Gaza Strip has once again reached a breaking point.”
“#Gaza: children are starving,” Lazzarini posted on X over the weekend. “The Government of Israel continues to block the entry of food + other basics. A manmade & politically motivated starvation. Nearly two months of siege. Calls to bring in supplies are going unheeded.”
Israel has submitted a written defense to the court, but it declined to send a legal representative to The Hague court proceedings. Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, said that Israel would not be attending the court in person, describing the proceedings as a “circus.”
“The goal is to deprive Israel of its most basic right to defend itself,” he said at a press conference that coincided with the start of the ICJ hearings. “It is not Israel that should be on trial. It is the U.N. and UNRWA. The U.N. has become a rotten, anti-Israel, and antisemitic body.”
Ammar Hijazi, the Palestinian ambassador to the Netherlands, accused Israel of breaching international law on the first day of the oral hearings on Monday.
“Israel is starving, killing and displacing Palestinians while also targeting and blocking humanitarian organizations trying to save their lives,” he said.
This week’s hearings mark the latest legal pressure placed on Israel since the war in Gaza began after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack. Last July the ICJ issued an advisory opinion ruling Israel’s occupation of the West Bank to be illegal under international law, and a case brought by South Africa accusing Israel of genocide is still ongoing. Israel has rejected the ruling and the allegation of genocide.
Over 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostage into Gaza in the Hamas-led assault on Israel of Oct. 7. More than 52,000 people have been killed in Gaza have been killed during Israel’s retaliatory military campaign response, with more than 2,000 killed since the latest ceasefire broke down on March 18, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
(LONDON) — Millions of people in Spain, Portugal and parts of France lost power on Monday due to an unknown grid issue, the Spanish government confirmed to ABC News.
The Spanish government said it called an emergency crisis meeting to fix the situation as soon as possible.
Authorities, meanwhile, asked people to stay at home and to avoid circulating, while emergency generators were also being put in place.
Red Eléctrica, the corporation that operates the national electricity grid in Spain, confirmed power outages across the country.
“Plans to restore the electricity supply have been activated in collaboration with companies in the sector following the zero that occurred in the peninsular system,” it wrote in a post to X. “The causes are being analyzed and all resources are being dedicated to solving it.”
A later post said power was recovered in some areas.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(LONDON) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a temporary ceasefire to come into effect during the 80th anniversary commemoration of V Day, which celebrates the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany in 1945.
The ceasefire will come into effect on May 8 and end on May 10, the Kremlin announced in a statement posted to its official Telegram channel Monday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(VANCOUVER) — At least 11 people were killed and “dozens” of others were injured Saturday as a vehicle plowed into a large crowd at a street festival in Vancouver, officials said, describing it as a “mass casualty incident.”
“A 30-year-old suspect, a Vancouver man, was arrested at the scene,” the Vancouver Police Department said in a social media post, later adding, “At this time, we are confident that this incident was not an act of terrorism.”
Vancouver police identified the suspect as Kai-Ji Adam Lo. The BC Prosecution Service charged him with eight counts of second degree murder.
Lo, a Vancouver resident, appeared in court on Sunday and remains in custody. The charge assessment is ongoing and further charges are anticipated.
The suspect is believed to have acted alone and there is currently no active threat to Canadians, Prime Minister Mark Carney said while delivering short remarks in Hamilton, Ontario, on Sunday.
The suspect had a history of interactions with police and health professionals for mental health reasons, Vancouver Police Interim Chief Constable Steve Rai told reporters Sunday.
“This is the darkest day in our city’s history,” Rai said. “Last night, as thousands of members of Vancouver’s Filipino community gathered for an important cultural celebration, the actions of a single person shattered our collective sense of safety.”
Crowds had gathered in the Canadian city to celebrate Lapu Lapu Day, Mayor Ken Sim said in a statement. A vehicle “drove into a large crowd of people” at the festival in the South Vancouver neighborhood at about 8:14 p.m., police said.
“Our thoughts are with all those affected and with Vancouver’s Filipino community during this incredibly difficult time,” Sim said, describing the incident as “horrific.”
The ages of the 11 victims ranged from 5 to 65, according to Rai on Sunday. He also said the number of dead could rise in the coming days or weeks.
The block party celebrating Filipino culture and Lapu-Lapu, a national hero of the Philippines, had been scheduled to run through 8 p.m. on Saturday, according to the organizers. Rai said there was a risk assessment conducted before the festival, and there were “no known threats to the event or to the Filipino community.”
“It is hard to make sense of something so senseless,” Rai said.
Videos from the scene, which were verified by ABC News, appear to show the aftermath of the incident, which happened on a stretch of East 43rd Avenue that had been lined on both sides with food trucks.
The videos appear to show first responders rushing to help the injured between the rows of food trucks. A black SUV can be seen in one video with what appears to be heavy damage to its hood. Police have not yet publicly identified the suspect’s vehicle.
Carney said he was “devastated by the horrific events” at the festival, adding that at least 20 people were injured in addition to the 11 killed.
“I extend my deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured, to the Filipino Canadian community, and to everyone in Vancouver,” he said in a statement. “We are all mourning with you. We are closely monitoring the situation and are grateful to our first responders for their swift action.”
The investigation is ongoing, Carney added.
Jagmeet Singh, leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, who spoke at the festival, said he was “horrified to learn of an incident at Vancouver’s Lapu Lapu Day celebrations that injured and killed innocent people.”
“As we wait to learn more, our thoughts are with the victims and their families — and Vancouver’s Filipino community, who were coming together today to celebrate resilience,” he said in a statement.
(LONDON) — North Korean authorities confirmed for the first time that the country’s forces fought against Ukrainian troops in Russia’s Kursk region, with state media claiming “victory” there and describing the North Korean soldiers involved as “heroic.”
The official acknowledgment came as Russian President Vladimir Putin also praised North Korean troops for their contribution in the theater, saying in a statement posted to the Kremlin website that Moscow’s “Korean friends” fought “with honor and valor, covering themselves with unfading glory.”
“The Russian people will never forget the feat of the Korean special forces,” Putin added. “We will always honor the Korean heroes who gave their lives for Russia, for our common freedom, on an equal basis with their Russian brothers in arms.”
In a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency, North Korea’s Central Military Commission confirmed Monday its troops took part in the Russian operation to eject Ukrainian units from Kursk.
Fighting erupted there after Kyiv’s forces entered the border region in a surprise offensive in August 2024. It was the largest Ukrainian operation on Russian territory since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The military commission lauded North Korean units fighting in Kursk for “performing heroic feats in the operations to repulse and frustrate the grave sovereignty infringement by the Ukrainian authorities.”
This weekend, top Russian commander Valery Gerasimov said Russia had fully liberated Kursk after months of intensifying assaults on remaining Ukrainian positions there. Gerasimov praised North Korea units for “significant assistance.”
The North Korean committee said the involvement of its soldiers — which according to various U.S., Ukrainian and South Korean assistance involved at least 10,000 troops — “fully demonstrated their high fighting spirit and military temperament,” with “mass heroism, matchless bravery and self-sacrificing spirit.”
In a statement carried by KCNA, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said fighters in Kursk were “heroes” who “fought for justice.” A monument to the Kursk contingent would be erected in Pyongyang, Kim added.
“The motherland should hand down forever the soul of the soldiers who fought to defend its great honour and take important state measures to specially and preferentially treat and take care of the families of the brave soldiers who participated in the war,” Kim continued.
North Korean units entering the fighting in Kursk quickly sustained casualties, according to estimates by Ukraine-aligned governments.
British intelligence assessed that by March roughly 5,000 North Korean troops deployed to fight Ukraine had been killed or wounded, with a third likely killed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Kyrylo Budanov — the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence — both said in February that North Korean troops had suffered about 4,000 casualties.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said in March that North Korean forces had suffered around 5,000 casualties, according to the Yonhap news agency, South Korea’s state media.
ABC News’ Will Gretsky contributed to this report.
(LONDON) — An American overnight airstrike in Yemen killed at least 68 people at a migrant detention center in the Saada Governorate, according to the country’s Civil Defense organization.
Another 47 people were injured in the strike in the city of Saada, in the northwest of the country, the Yemen Civil Defense said in a statement posted to Telegram on Monday morning.
The struck center housed around 100 African migrants, the Yemen Civil Defense said. There was no immediate U.S. comment on the strike.
A statement issued by the U.S. military’s Central Command before the alleged attack on the migrants’ center was reported said its “intense and sustained campaign” since March 15 has so far struck more than 800 targets and “killed hundreds of Houthi fighters and numerous Houthi leaders, including senior Houthi missile and UAV officials.”
President Donald Trump’s administration intensified the U.S. airstrike campaign against Iran-aligned Houthi forces in Yemen from March 15, expanding a campaign that began under former President Joe Biden in response to Houthi attacks on commercial and military shipping and strikes on Israel.
The Houthis began their attacks in October 2023, in response to the Israeli military campaign in Gaza launched after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and 253 abducted.
Central Command said its strikes “have degraded the pace and effectiveness of their attacks. Ballistic missile launches have dropped by 69%. Additionally, attacks from one way attack drones have decreased by 55%.”
“U.S. strikes destroyed the ability of Ras Isa Port to accept fuel which will begin to impact Houthi ability to not only conduct operations, but also to generate millions of dollars in revenue for their terror activities,” the statement read.
“Iran undoubtedly continues to provide support to the Houthis,” Central command continued. “The Houthis can only continue to attack our forces with the backing of the Iranian regime.”
“We will continue to ratchet up the pressure until the objective is met, which remains the restoration of freedom of navigation and American deterrence in the region,” the command said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(OTTAWA) — Just five months ago, a Conservative Party victory in Canada seemed all but certain.
Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister and leader of the Liberal Party, was widely unpopular, and polls showed the Conservatives with what seemed like an insurmountable 25-point lead.
Then U.S. voters went to the polls. Donald Trump’s victory started to reverberate in Canada.
He imposed tariffs, including a 25% levy on Canadian goods; claimed fentanyl from China was pouring into the U.S. from the northern border; and threatened Canadian sovereignty, saying Canada should be made the 51st state as well as referring to Trudeau as “Governor Trudeau.”
Many Canadians became angry. Visits to the U.S. began falling and some boycotted American products. Then, Trudeau resigned in March, and the Liberals elected Mark Carney as their new leader.
The 25-point lead the Conservatives once had has been eviscerated, and support for the Liberals has grown.
Now, with an election set for Monday, April 28, pollsters are saying the Conservatives have lost too much ground to make up. Polls are predicting a loss for the Conservatives and leader Pierre Poilievre.
Canada has a parliamentary system. Hence, if Liberals win a majority of seats in the election, or are able to form a minority government with members of another party, Carney becomes Prime Minister.
Political experts and Canadians said that Trump undoubtedly changed the course of the election.
“There is no rebound for the Liberal Party if Donald Trump doesn’t intervene in the way that he does,” Tari Ajadi, an assistant professor in the department of political science at McGill University in Montreal, told ABC News.
“If Donald Trump hadn’t won a second term, I don’t think there would be any hope for the Liberals, regardless of whether or not they changed leader at this point,” he said. “But once Trump did win that second term, and once Trump did try to infringe upon Canadian sovereignty, it changed the entire race.”
Trump fractures U.S.-Canada alliance
At the beginning of 2025, the Liberal Party was facing a crisis. Trudeau, who had been prime minister since November 2015, had initially been “extremely popular,” according to Adam Chapnick, a professor of defense studies at Canadian Forces College in Toronto.
However, he was plagued by unpopularity in later years due to an escalated cost-of-living crisis in Canada, and minor scandals. Several of his cabinet ministers resigned in 2024 amid lack of confidence in his leadership.
Trudeau was required by Canadian law to call an election by October 2025, and his party seemed sure to lose.
Frank Graves, a Canadian pollster and founder of Ekos Research Associates, told ABC News that in January 2025, things did not look good for the Liberal Party.
“The Liberals reached a modern low of 19-point support. That’s very little for the Liberal Party,” he said. “In fact, [that] was a record for the 20th century. At the same time, the Conservative Party was running at 44 points, with a massive 25-point lead, which would have been a sure majority.”
He went on, “It looks like the Conservatives are in a position to just sip beer and cruise to the finish line and get their majority.”
As early as December, just weeks after Trump won his second term, Trump made comments that Canada should become the 51st state and referred to Trudeau as “Governor Trudeau.”
Although initially brushed off by Canadian officials, Trump continued to float 51st state rhetoric and began threats of imposing tariffs on Canada in January.
Trump also began arguing that the border drawn between the U.S. and Canada is just arbitrary.
Ajadi said that although Trudeau decided to resign as prime minister and Liberal Party leader, it still looked like the Liberals would lose no matter who emerged as the next leader — but that’s when Trump’s comments kicked into high gear.
“It still looked like the Liberals were dead in the water, regardless of who would come in as prime minister,” he said. “But when Donald Trump really started amping up this 51st state rhetoric, when he threatened the tariffs and eventually implemented the tariffs … it completely shifted the way that the polls were going.”
Carney gains support
In early March, Canada’s Liberal Party announced Mark Carney was chosen to succeed Trudeau after party members voted in a nominating contest between four candidates.
Carney, who was governor of the Bank of Canada, is credited with helping to guide the country through the worst of the 2008 financial crisis and, as former governor of the Bank of England, helping guide the U.K. through Brexit.
Ajadi said that Carney has come across to voters as “incredibly capable and well-educated” and as someone who can navigate challenges posed by Trump’s rhetoric.
“He can say, ‘Look at my resume. I’ve been able to help countries navigate and I’ve been able to negotiate things for two different G7 countries,'” Ajadi said. “Like, ‘I have this wealth of experience and, no, I’m not a politician, but I am someone who has been able to navigate really contentious political conversations.'”
This had led to a net-22 positive rating for Carney in the polls, according to Graves.
Poilievre loses support
While Carney and the Liberals have seen increasing support, Poilievre and the Conservatives have seen decreasing support.
Although opposition leaders have tried to paint Poilievre as being equivalent to Trump, political experts told ABC News he has many policies that differ from Trump.
However, some of Poilievre’s rhetoric has been viewed by Canadians as Trump-esque, such as his embrace of populist sentiments and calling opponents by nicknames, experts have said.
Additionally, Graves said Poilievre struggled to pivot his campaign from a series of mantras about how “Canada is broken” to addressing threats from the Trump administration.
“It’s hard to abandon a strategy which had propelled you to such a comfortable position in the polls overnight, which is almost what was required,” Graves said.
Throughout February, the Conservatives’ lead in the polls began to evaporate, according to Graves. He said by the end of February, Liberals achieved a solid lead, which has since extended since Carney became prime minister.
Graves added that taking on the U.S. is the biggest issue now to Canadians, more than the cost of living. When poll participants were asked who they have the most confidence in, Carney had a significant advantage.
“Because the [Conservatives were] still focused on the government, there was an opportunity for the Liberal leadership to take control of the narrative on how to respond to the president, and Mr. Carney did so,” Chapnick said. “And as Mr. Carney became associated with the leader who was going to stop Canada from becoming the 51st state, Liberal support skyrocketed.”
Canadians are put off by Trump’s actions
Political experts said they’ve noticed the anger Canadians have toward the U.S. in the wake of Trump’s rhetoric.
“Canadians are trying not to travel to the United States,” Chapnick said. “They’re trying not to buy American products. This idea that we can no longer rely on the United States has led to some pretty significant changes.”
Airlines and state tourism boards said they’ve seen travel from Canada to the U.S. drop in February and March.
Canadian citizen Garry Liboiron told ABC News he views Poilievre as a “mini Trump,” which will “definitely play against him.”
Garry Liboiron and his wife, Liz Liboiron, said that “the name-calling and all the childish rhetoric” has led them to sell their summer home in San Tan Valley, Arizona, a place they typically retreat to when their hometown of Coburg — which is an hour east of Toronto — is pummeled with snow in the winter months.
“It’s pretty sad because we’re not forced to leave, but we almost feel like we’re being pushed with the rhetoric that’s coming out of Washington these days toward Canadians and Canada,” Liz Liboiron told ABC News.
The two are on their “farewell tour” of the U.S., traveling to their favorite places for the last time, with no real indication they will ever return due to the “present circumstances” of the Trump administration.
“Liz and I don’t understand how this is allowed to go on and the things that are happening just seem to get more and more scary as each day goes on. So, we said, ‘Let’s sell now,'” Garry Liboiron said.
Garry Liboiron said he thinks the Canadian election will result in a Liberal majority win. He has noticed Carney’s popularity “[shoot] up like a rocket.”
Canadian Cam Hayden, who has traveled to 45 of the 50 states and is a frequent visitor of the U.S., also decided to boycott the nation shortly after the presidential election.
When Trump made claims of annexing Canada, it was a moment Hayden calls “the breaking point.”
“I said, ‘Forget it, I’m never going back until there’s a change in the administration and a change in attitude,'” Hayden told ABC News.
Hayden, the owner of the Edmonton Music Festival, used to travel to the U.S. to see different performers. He made many friends in America over the years, but said he cannot support the country with the current administration in place.
“I keep in touch with my friends [in the U.S.], and we’re still good friends. It’s just that I cannot see myself supporting an administration that has made the comment that they would like to annex the country I live in,” Hayden said.
ABC News’ Victoria Beaule, Bill Hutchinson, Ivan Pereira and Sam Sweeney contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump said Sunday he wants a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war in “two weeks or less,” but later said a little more time might be acceptable.
Trump’s deadline comes a day after he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Vatican City while they were in Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral.
“I think the meeting went well, we’ll see what happens over the next few days. We’ll probably learn a lot,” Trump told reporters on the tarmac at Morristown Municipal Airport in New Jersey before returning to Washington.
Trump said he was “very disappointed” that Russia continued to carry out missile and drone strikes in Ukraine days after he had implored Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the attacks while negotiations continued.
When asked what he and Zelenskyy talked about, Trump said Zelenskyy emphasized their need for more weapons.
“He told me that he needs more weapons and we’re going to see what happens — I want to see what, with respect to Russia — with Russia I’ve been surprised and disappointed when they did the bombing,” Trump said.
When asked what he wants from Putin, Trump replied, “I want him to stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal. We have the confines of a deal I believe and I want him to sign it and be done with it and just go back to life.”
Trump also said that Ukraine reclaiming its territory in Crimea that Russia occupied in 2014 would be complicated while blaming former President Barack Obama for allowing Russia to take the region. Asked whether he thought Ukraine would give up Crimea, Trump said “I think so.”
Earlier Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Russia and Ukraine are closer to a deal after Trump’s meeting with Zelenskyy, but a deal is still not there.
He said the U.S. will now need to weigh if it’s time for the U.S. to step in to mediate talks.
“Well, I think they’re closer in general than they’ve been any time in the last three years, but it’s still not there,” Rubio told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“We cannot continue, as I said, to dedicate time and resources to this effort if it’s not going to come to fruition. So the last week has really been about figuring out how close are these sides really and are they close enough that this merits a continued investment of our time as a mediator in this regard.”
Trump and Zelenskyy met in Vatican City on Saturday while both were in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis. White House Communications Director Steven Cheung said the two had a “very productive session.” Zelenskyy described the meeting as “good” in a post on X and said, “Hoping for results on everything we covered. Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out. Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.”
After their meeting, Trump blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s continued bombardments of Ukrainian cities, which continued overnight into Sunday morning with more drone attacks on six Ukrainian regions. Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces downed eight Ukrainian drones overnight into Sunday morning.
Rubio was asked why the U.S. trusts that Putin won’t invade Ukraine again or another European country as he has never acknowledged Ukraine’s right to exist.
“Well, I don’t think peace deals are built on trust. I think peace deals have to be built on verification. Have to be built on facts, have to be built on action, have to be built on realities,” Rubio said. “So this is not an issue of, well, of trust. It’s an issue of building in these sorts of things, verification, security, guarantees, things that have been discussed in the past,” Rubio said.
Rubio said the U.S. has made “real progess, but those last couple steps of this journey were always going to be the hardest ones, and it needs to happen soon.”
Rubio wouldn’t elaborate on a timeline of a deal but instead stressed this is a “critical week” for the U.S.
“This week is going to be a really important week in which we have to make a determination about whether this is an endeavor that we want to continue to be involved in, or if it’s time to sort of focus on some other issues that are equally, if not more important, in some cases, but we want to see it happen, there are reasons to be optimistic, but there are reasons to be realistic, of course, as well,” he said. “We’re close, but we’re not close enough.”
Asked if he supported negotiations, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told CNN’s “State of the Union that he fears Trump will cave in to Putin and “sell out” Zelenskyy.
“Well, look, my great fear, Dana, is that Trump will just cave in to Putin,” Schumer told CNN’s Dana Bash. “That’s been the overall indications all along. And, of course, the bottom line is very simple, that if we cave to Putin, if Trump caves in to Putin, it’s three — it’s bad in three very bad ways:” abandoning Ukraine would be a “moral tragedy, he said, and would “tear asunder” alliances with European allies.
“But, third, and maybe worst of all, it’s a sign that the United States is weak. It sends a signal to every dictator in China, in North Korea, in Iran that, if you stand up and bully Trump, you’re going to get your way,” he said.
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that more sanctions against Russia could be coming as the U.S. tries to force it to make a deal.
“[Trump] talked about potential action on banking, potential action on the oil and gas sector. But he’s determined to use both carrots and sticks to get both sides to the table,” he said.
Smoke rises after a massive explosion that ripped through the Shahid Rajaee Port as officials conduct operations on April 26, 2025. More than 500 people have so far been injured in a massive explosion (Photo by Iranian Red Crescent/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Hundreds of people were injured following an explosion at one of Iran’s most important ports, according to officials.
The explosion originated in a container at the Shahid Rajaee port in Bandar Abbas, according to state media outlet Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.
At least 516 people were injured in the explosion and subsequent fire, according to state outlet the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), which cited a spokesperson for Iran’s emergency services.
Video posted to social media shows damaged buildings filled with smoke.
Emergency services rushed to the scene following the explosion. The port plays a key role in trade in the country and is responsible for the vast majority of loading and unloading of goods in Iranian ports.
The cause of the explosion is under investigation, said Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, a crisis management official in the area.
It is unclear whether there were fatalities as a result of the explosion.
