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US offers help to Iran
23/02/2005 13:43 - (SA)
Mainz - United States President George W Bush offers his condolences for the devastation caused by a powerful earthquake in Iran and is ready to help respond to the disaster, the White House said on Wednesday.
"On behalf of the American people, the president expresses his sincere condolences for the loss of life and suffering caused by yesterday's earthquake," spokesperson Scott McClellan said in a statement.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with those families and individuals who lost loved ones. The United States stands ready to assist the people of Iran in responding to this tragedy, and we will be in contact with the government of Iran to offer concrete help," said McClellan.
Rescuers pulled out more bodies on Wednesday from the rubble of mountain villages flattened by a the earthquake in the southeast Iranian province of Kerman that claimed about 450 lives and left thousands without shelter in freezing cold and rain.
Hundreds of rescue workers and soldiers were searching through the rubble with their bare hands as blocked roads made it impossible for heavy earthmoving equipment to reach some villages.
About 30 000 people in 40 villages have been affected by this latest temblor, the deadliest in Iran since the Bam earthquake of December 2003 that killed more than 30 000.
Bush was visiting Germany on Wednesday on the second leg of a fence-mending European trip.
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