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Posted on 12/28/2003 11:39:02 AM PST by sbw123
Two-thirds of Bam residents believed dead in earthquake
By News Agencies
Iran accepts help from entire world, except Israel
International rescue workers hacked desperately through flattened debris for survivors and cemeteries overflowed in Iran's ancient Silk Road city of Bam yesterday. A pre-dawn earthquake razed the historic heart of the fortress city on Friday and killed at least 20,000 people. Rescue officials said the figure could rise to 40,000, or 65-70 percent of Bam's population.
Twenty people were pulled from the ruins after being located amid the rubble by sniffer dogs provided by the Iranian army or European donors, the official news agency IRNA reported. Thousands were believed to lie buried amid the ruins and the race has been on to rescue them as night-time temperatures plummeted below zero degrees Celsius.
Israel sent its condolences "to the Iranian people," Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said yesterday. "With all the conflict of opinions, at these moments the international community should work together to assist the families of the dead and injured," he said.
Jahanbakhsh Khanjani, a spokesman for Iran's Interior Ministry, yesterday said Iran would accept aid from all countries in the world except Israel. The announcement came after foreign correspondents in Jerusalem reported that unofficial Israeli sources were considering sending aid to Iran.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran accepts all kinds of humanitarian aid from all countries and international organizations with the exception of the Zionist regime," Khanjani said.
The United States is sending government and civilian emergency workers and 150,000 pounds of medical supplies to help Iran, the White House said yesterday.
"The U.S. government is currently working with Iranian authorities, the United Nations and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent to rapidly deploy humanitarian assistance to the people of Iran following yesterday's devastating earthquake in Bam," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
The U.S. States will send medical response teams from Boston, Los Angeles and Virginia and disaster experts from government agencies, the spokesman said. The U.S. military will deliver medical supplies from bases in Kuwait, said McClellan, who was with President George Bush at his ranch.
U.S. assistance to Iran is also complicated by the diplomatic chill between the two countries. However, at least one American tourist was killed and another seriously injured in the earthquake, the State Department said. They were visiting the city's 2,000-year-old citadel.
U.S. State Department spokesman Lou Fintor said the injured American has been hospitalized in Tehran: "The injuries are serious but do not appear to be life threatening." The Swiss Embassy is aiding the American in the absence of U.S. diplomatic ties with Iran.
Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari said hordes of homeless survivors would be in tents by last night. But witnesses said that as night fell, many people were sleeping in the open .
President Mohammad Khatami admitted Iran could not cope on its own. From China to South Africa, Europe to Australia, nations reacted swiftly to send rescue workers, doctors, tents and cash to help deal with what appeared to be the world's most lethal earthquake in at least 10 years.
The quake measured 6.3 on the Richter scale and struck when many people were at home asleep. Some 30,000 people were also injured, state television said. Khatami appealed to Iranians on television to send aid.
"Everyone is doing their best to help, but the disaster is so huge that I believe no matter how much is done, we cannot meet the people's expectations," he said.
The provincial governor said rescuers were desperate for diggers and bulldozers to clear tonnes of rubble. Witnesses said Bam's cemeteries were overflowing with fully-clothed corpses. The stench of death pervaded the streets and the International Red Crescent has advised people to wear gloves and face masks because of fears of an epidemic.
Fatemeh, 35, was burying her two children. "I am burying myself in this grave," she said. Taher, 50, was inconsolable, sobbing "wake up, wake up" to the body of his teenage son Farzad.
About 70 percent of Bam, a popular tourist spot 1,000 km southeast of the capital Tehran with its historic citadel and other centuries-old buildings, was leveled.
Exhausted, dust-covered rescue worker Omid Alipour said his team had dug out only three injured survivors during the night.
"We don't have anything, just our bare hands," he said.
Reporters said roads to the 120,000 or so people in the quake-stricken outlying villages had been cut by the force of the tremors but some aid workers were setting out on foot.
Local officials said about 600 prisoners were on the run in the town after their jail collapsed. Witnesses said hundreds of bodies had already been tipped into broad trenches hollowed out by mechanical diggers. Bam airport has been converted into a sprawling, makeshift hospital.
A large part of the ancient citadel was destroyed, the provincial governor said. It had sprawling fortifications, towers, stables and a mosque. It was the city's main tourist attraction.
On the old Silk Road route between China and Europe, Bam had been a stopover for merchants and travelers for centuries. "The city of Bam must be built from scratch," said its governor Ali Shafiee.
I'm glad to read that in their time of mourning, they can still find time to hate. Screw them!
Was this the friend of the freeper who posted that his friend had died in this quake?
"If you want on or off this Iran ping list, Freepmail DoctorZin”
These idiots want to make defiant political stands in the face of their pitiable human tragedy.
A sad situation with the demise created by the earthquake. For the Iranian government to exacerbate political tensions in a time of need is NOT a very appreciative or politically savvy thing to do. If their foremost concerns were with the well being of the public of Iran, they would accept a helping hand from all, even if for some it is the extending of an olive branch.
A despicable political maneuver IMHO.
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