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Iran quake toll tops 530
23/02/2005 21:55 - (SA)
Houtkan - Rescuers using their bare hands pulled more bodies on Wednesday from the rubble of freezing mountain villages flattened by a powerful earthquake in Iran as officials warned the death toll could reach 550.
President Mohammad Khatami, whose government is facing protests from stricken villagers at the delay in aid reaching some of the most devastated areas, said Iran would accept international help if offered.
"I have lost 15 or 30 members of my family," cried soldier Hossein Mirzaie who returned to his home village of Houtkan in the mountains of Kerman province after the tragedy struck.
Hundreds of rescue workers and soldiers were searching through the rubble of mud-brick buildings with their hands as blocked roads made it impossible for heavy earthmoving equipment to reach some villages.
Residents who were forced to spend the night outdoors in the freezing cold were burying their dead as snow fell on Wednesday and ambulances were transformed into makeshift hearses.
"The number of victims could reach 550, but we don't think it will go much beyond that," interior minister Abdolvahed Moussavi Lari told journalists.
Whole villages in remote mountain areas were turned to rubble by the force of the earthquake in the southeastern province of Kerman which had a magnitude of 6.4 on the Richter scale and centred on the Zarand district.
As grief turned to anger, residents of Islamabad village in one of the most devastated areas blocked roads in protest at delays in receiving basic supplies such as tents and blankets, after spending the night in freezing cold and rain.
About 10 000 families in 50 villages have been affected by the temblor, the deadliest in Iran since the Bam earthquake of December 2003 that killed more than 30 000 people, said Lari.
Some 8 000 homes had been damaged or destroyed.
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