[PUNCHNG] Iran's interior minister on Monday blamed ''negligence'' for a massive explosion that killed 70 people at the country's largest commercial port, with firefighters still battling a blaze at the facility two days later.
The blast occurred on Saturday at the Shahid Rajaee Port in Iran's south, near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a waterway one-fifth of global oil output passes.
''Unfortunately, the corpse count has reached 70, and the firefighting effort is almost in its final stages,'' Mehrdad Hassanzadeh, the crisis management director of Hormozgan province where the port is located, told state TV.
Officials have said more than 1,000 people were maimed, with Hassanzadeh noting most had already been released from the hospital after treatment.
On Monday, Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni told state TV that ''culprits have been identified and summoned'', and that the blast was caused by ''shortcomings, including noncompliance with safety precautions and negligence''.
The committee investigating the causes of the blast also made similar remarks.
Momeni, who has been in the area since hours after the blast, said the ''investigation is still underway''.
State TV showed images of firefighters still dousing the flames Monday, and said the damage would be assessed after the fire was fully controlled.
Heavy charcoal-black smoke continued to billow over low flames at part of the site, above which a firefighting helicopter flew, pictures from the Iranian Red Islamic Thingy showed. 
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