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Rescue workers in Bam downbeat about finding survivors
Bam (Iran), Dec 28: Rescue workers were downbeat today about finding survivors in the rubble of Bam, two days after a devastating earthquake destroyed 70 per cent of the southeast Iranian town of 100,000 people with tens of thousands feared dead.
Bam (Iran), Dec 28: Rescue workers were downbeat today about finding survivors in the rubble of Bam, two days after a devastating earthquake destroyed 70 per cent of the southeast Iranian town of 100,000 people with tens of thousands feared dead.
Iranian Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mussavi Lari told reporters at Bam airport as the Air Force and foreign aid groups continued to lift in supplies, "It is now 50 hours after the earthquake and there is still some small hope of finding some survivors, but it is very small.”
"This is a huge disaster," he went on. "Seventy per cent of a city of 100,000 people has been destroyed. Twenty to 30 per cent of homes in the city are also unusable or unsafe."
Regarding the death toll, which he earlier said would be far higher than the provisional estimate of 20,000 dead and 30,000 injured advanced by ministry officials, Lari said, "The reality is that we cannot give real figures now. There are the bodies that we have recovered but there are also parts of the city that we have not touched yet."
Ari Vakkilainen of Finn rescues, a Finnish government international rescue organisation, said at the airport, "I think there are not many people still alive under the rubble because of the way the buildings here are made."
The bricks generally used in building here are of baked mud which turn to dust and sand when buildings collapse, which means there are not many air pockets.
So far, he said, teams of rescuers had arrived from Switzerland, Turkey, Germany, Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, Finland, Azerbaijan, Spain, Ukraine and Poland.
But giving a very downbeat assessment of the chances of finding survivors, Vakkilainen said, "the problem is, there`s only a total of 30 sniffer dogs here already which are working."
The official news agency reported that a first us plane bringing aid workers and medical material for rescue operations in Bam, a giant Hercules C-130, arrived at 3 am today in nearby Kerman.
As soon as news broke early Friday of the quake which claimed tens of thousands of lives, US President George W. Bush had sent his condolences to the Iranian people and announced aid to the victims.
Shortly afterwards an Iranian official announced that his country would accept aid from all countries except Israel, which Iran does not recognise.
Iran and the United States broke off diplomatic relations after the Islamic revolution in 1979 and the taking of American hostages in the Tehran Embassy.
Thousands of survivors poured out of the city yesterday, fearing aftershocks.
On the main road between Bam and the provincial capital of Kerman, some 200 kilometres to the northwest, there was total gridlock, jammed with thousands of vehicles loaded with personal belongings. Bureau Report
"This is a huge disaster," he went on. "Seventy per cent of a city of 100,000 people has been destroyed. Twenty to 30 per cent of homes in the city are also unusable or unsafe."
Regarding the death toll, which he earlier said would be far higher than the provisional estimate of 20,000 dead and 30,000 injured advanced by ministry officials, Lari said, "The reality is that we cannot give real figures now. There are the bodies that we have recovered but there are also parts of the city that we have not touched yet."
Ari Vakkilainen of Finn rescues, a Finnish government international rescue organisation, said at the airport, "I think there are not many people still alive under the rubble because of the way the buildings here are made."
The bricks generally used in building here are of baked mud which turn to dust and sand when buildings collapse, which means there are not many air pockets.
So far, he said, teams of rescuers had arrived from Switzerland, Turkey, Germany, Britain, Italy, Luxembourg, Finland, Azerbaijan, Spain, Ukraine and Poland.
But giving a very downbeat assessment of the chances of finding survivors, Vakkilainen said, "the problem is, there`s only a total of 30 sniffer dogs here already which are working."
The official news agency reported that a first us plane bringing aid workers and medical material for rescue operations in Bam, a giant Hercules C-130, arrived at 3 am today in nearby Kerman.
As soon as news broke early Friday of the quake which claimed tens of thousands of lives, US President George W. Bush had sent his condolences to the Iranian people and announced aid to the victims.
Shortly afterwards an Iranian official announced that his country would accept aid from all countries except Israel, which Iran does not recognise.
Iran and the United States broke off diplomatic relations after the Islamic revolution in 1979 and the taking of American hostages in the Tehran Embassy.
Thousands of survivors poured out of the city yesterday, fearing aftershocks.
On the main road between Bam and the provincial capital of Kerman, some 200 kilometres to the northwest, there was total gridlock, jammed with thousands of vehicles loaded with personal belongings. Bureau Report