An explosion has ripped through an apartment building in the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas, killing a 4-year-old girl
ByJON GAMBRELL Associated Press
January 31, 2026, 1: 38 PM
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — An explosion tore through an apartment building Saturday in Iran ‘s port city of Bandar Abbas, killing a 4-year-old girl as local media footage purportedly showed a security force member being carried out by rescuers.
The blast happened a day before a planned naval drill by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes. The U.S. military has warned Iran not to threaten its warships or commercial traffic in the strait, on which Bandar Abbas sits.
State television quoted a local fire official as blaming the blast on a gas leak. Media reported at least 14 others injured in the explosion.
A local newspaper, Sobh-e Sahel, aired footage of a correspondent speaking in front of the building. The footage included a sequence that showed a man in a green security force uniform being carried out on a stretcher. He wore a neck brace and appeared to be in pain, his left hand covering the branch insignia on his uniform.
The newspaper did not acknow