UN responds to huge earthquake in which an estimated 20,000 have died

The United Nations has sent a Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team to southeastern Iran in response to the devastating earthquake in which an estimated 20,000 people have been killed and 50,000 injured with tens of thousands still missing. Accurate figures remain hard to come by more than 24 hours after the quake hit, as communications with the blighted city of Bam, 975 km southeast of the Iranian capital, Tehran, remain difficult. "Two people have already arrived in the affected area and they are starting to coordinate on site. The others will arrive today," a spokesperson for the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Madeleine Moulin, told IRIN from Geneva on Saturday. "We do not at this stage have any more information on the scale of devastation, but it is a huge tragedy," she added. "To our knowledge, only search and rescue teams are able to fly directly to Kerman, the nearest airport to Bam, without a visa in order to assist the government in its rescue effort," Moulin explained. The British government has already dispatched search and rescue teams to the affected area. The Interior Ministry estimated 20,000 dead on Saturday, but rescue officials said the final toll from the quake could be double that figure as the corpses of people trapped under collapsed buildings are recovered in the coming hours and days. "As more bodies are pulled out, we fear that the death toll may reach as high as 40,000. An unbelievable human disaster has occurred," said Akbar Alavi, the governor of Kerman city, the local provincial capital. The Iranian government requested international humanitarian assistance late on Friday, including Urban Search And Rescue (USAR) teams with detection equipment and sniffer dogs. OCHA has also made available a grant of US $90,000 in response to the disaster as the needs of people affected continue to grow. "What they need right now are medical items, mobile hospitals, tents, blankets, generators, water purification equipment and search and rescue teams," Moulin added. In addition, the UN Disaster Management Team (UNDMT) in Tehran sent two teams to the affected area Friday night to collect, verify and compile information on the extent and impact of the earthquake that measured between 6.3 and 6.7 on the Richter scale and has destroyed huge parts of Bam, a city of 80,000 people. Poorly constructed buildings unable to withstand earthquakes and the timing of the disaster - when most people were asleep at home - are being blamed for the high death toll. Emergency relief has arrived at Kerman airport from Britain, the Czech Republic, Germany, Russia, Switzerland and neighbouring Turkey. Italy, which is coordinating the European Union's (EU) efforts, has said it would send two planes of relief workers and equipment. Belgium, China, Japan, Pakistan and South Korea have promised to fly in more aid. Washington has also pledged relief to this massive disaster that has overwhelmed Iranian authorities. Initial efforts to respond to the earthquake were led by the government and the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS). According to the Federation of the Red Cross, this preliminary appeal for assistance is intended to provide immediate relief and basic assistance while relief teams arrive on site to deliver assistance, and assess the situation to better specify the needs, including medium to longer-term rehabilitation requirements. The Federation is working in close partnership with the IRCS which immediately organised and assigned eight relief teams from the affected area as well as from neighbouring provinces, providing tents and medical services, and transported the severely injured in two helicopters. Two field hospitals have also been deployed. Some 60 percent of the historic city of Bam is reported to have been destroyed, including the hospital, means of communication, water and electricity supplies and the citadel - parts of which date back 2000 years. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was distressed to learn of the huge casualties and damage caused by the earthquake. He conveyed his deepest condolences and sympathy to the government and people of the Islamic Republic of Iran and called on the international community to provide immediate support, a UN statement said. The government has declared three days of mourning for the victims of the earthquake.