Tehran – IRIS Kharg, one of the largest Iranian naval ships, caught fire and sank on Wednesday. The Iranian investigation agencies are searching for the cause of the fire, but no credible reason has been found till now. This incident took place near the Strait of Hormuz, the route for the highest crude oil movement. Tension was created in the region on Wednesday due to the incident. The fire started on Kharg, a 679 metres long support ship from the Iranian navy, at 2.25 am on Wednesday. The vessel was near the Iranian port of Jask, in the Gulf of Oman, at this time.

There were 400 naval personnel, including cadets, on the ship when the ship caught fire. The Iranian navy informed that Kharg was on a training voyage for the Iranian naval cadets. The soldiers made frantic efforts to control the fire. Photographs and videos of these have become viral on social media. The Iranian navy informed that even after hours of efforts, the fire could not be brought under control. After that, the ship sank in the Gulf of Oman on Wednesday morning. All the 400 personnel on the vessel were rescued before that. A minimum of 20 soldiers were injured in the whole incident.

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