Four thousand dead in massive quake

At least four thousand people have been killed and an estimated 30,00 injured in an earthquake in southeast Iran early Friday morning, according to Iranian state television. The death toll is set to rise still further - a source has said that the death toll could be as high as 10,000. The historic city of Bam – a popular tourist destination with a population of about 200,000 – is reported to have sustained the most damage. Local television and radio reports say that between 70 – 80 per cent of the buildings in Bam have been destroyed and electricity and telephone lines are down. The Red Crescent have deployed 250 rescue workers to the area, plus a group of medics, two helicopters, an ambulance, vehicles and sniffer dogs. As well as medical equipment, the Red Crescent have also sent 5,000 tents, blankets, tins of food, 900 heating devices, 10 mt of sugar cubes and 4,473 cartons of bread. “The situation is very bad. Because it’s such a big-scale disaster we’ve asked all the provinces around Kerman for help,” Fariba Kakavand, a Red Crescent spokesperson told IRIN in the Iranian capital Tehran. “The biggest problem we have is to bring out the dead and wounded from under the debris. We need heavy equipment such as bulldozers, and the latest equipment for finding bodies – which we are short of. We also need disinfecting materials,” she said. The army are sending Chinook helicopters to the region and a section of the army is on its way to Bam to help control the area. There are also reports that two of Bam’s hospitals have collapsed, crushing staff – the injured are being taken to hospitals in nearby towns and cities. Many people are trapped under debris and rescue attempts are being hampered by cold weather and strong wind. State television also reported that a large part of Bam’s 2,000-year-old mud-brick citadel has collapsed. “The damage is so huge that the province of Kerman cannot cope with the disaster,” the television report said. The US Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center said that the earthquake measured 6.7 on the Richter scale. A three-day period of mourning has been declared in Kerman province, where the devastated city, is located. State media and the authorities have broadcast urgent appeals across Iran for blood donations, blankets, food and clothes to help the victims of the quake.