Four more earthquake survivors found
BAM, Iran (AP) – Soldiers pulled four more people alive from the rubble of Iran’s devastating earthquake, hours after rescue workers had all but given up hope of finding survivors and focused their efforts on relief and preventing disease. As the death toll from Friday’s 6.6-magnitude quake reached at least 28,000, the discovery late Tuesday of two men and two women amazed health workers handling the aftermath of the disaster. Normally, people trapped under collapsed buildings can survive three days – a deadline that expired Monday morning.
“It’s a miracle,” Mohammad Nickam of the Health Ministry said Wednesday. Deputy Health Minister Mohammed Akbari said the four survivors were in “relatively good condition.” More information was not immediately available.
Residents of the southeastern city of Bam increasingly blamed the authorities Tuesday for poor distribution of relief supplies. Shortages were aggravated by an influx of people from outlying villages struck by the quake.
“One week has gone, and I still have nothing – just a little food,” said Mohammed Ali Ghaemi, 52, who dug the bodies of his two daughters from the rubble. “People from villages come here and take everything home.” He accused the government of being “very weak.”
The quake injured at least 12,000 people. It was unclear Tuesday how many people remained buried in the ruins of the city, whose population was 80,000 last week.
A U.S. team of 60 doctors and 20 logistical staff set up a field hospital in Bam on Tuesday, joining aid missions from more than 20 countries. Russia, France, Italy, Jordan and Ukraine were already running field hospitals in the area.
Iranian health officials were trying to determine the health needs of the city’s remaining population, said Health Ministry official Nickam.
A top priority is to prevent outbreaks of typhoid or cholera, said Marty Bahamonde, a spokesman for the U.S. delegation.
U.S. team leader Bill Garvelink met several Iranian ministers on Tuesday. He said the meetings were probably the first between American and Iranian officials in Iran since the United States cut diplomatic ties after radical students seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and took hostages.
“We don’t focus on political issues,” said Garvelink, who works for the U.S. Agency for International Development. President Mohammad Khatami had earlier thanked Washington for its assistance but said aid alone would not improve relations.
In a gesture that reflected the political sensitivities, spokesman Bahamonde said the U.S. team would not fly an American flag over its camp.
Aid continued to pour in from around the world. An Australian air force plane carrying blankets, water purification tablets, heaters and other equipment unloaded the supplies in the provincial capital of Kerman, 120 miles northwest of Bam, according to an Australian defense official.
China pledged $1.2 million in additional aid, doubling an earlier contribution of tents, generators and other supplies worth $600,000, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on its Web site Tuesday.
The earthquake struck before sunrise, entombing thousands of sleeping residents in their homes. The widespread use of mud-bricks made buildings collapse easily.
Bam’s ancient citadel, which includes the world’s largest medieval mud fortress, was largely destroyed by the quake. The tallest section, including a distinctive square tower, crumbled like a sand castle.
Khatami said Tuesday a committee of foreign experts would determine how best to go about rebuilding the citadel.
“We will rebuild the Bam citadel as the symbol of some 3,000 years of history in this part of Iran,” said Khatami, adding that the U.N. cultural agency, UNESCO, had offered to help. UNESCO had considered declaring the citadel a protected World Heritage Site.