Fears of yet more dead after quake that killed over 530
Print Edition
RESCUERS were using backhoes and heavy equipment yesterday to dig through the debris of buildings toppled by a powerful earthquake on the border between Iran and Iraq that has killed over 530 people.
Their grim task began at dawn in the Kurdish town of Sarpol-e Zahab in the western Iranian province of Kermanshah, which appears to be the hardest hit in the 7.3-magnitude earthquake.
Kermanshah, an almost entirely Kurdish province nestled in the Zagros Mountains that run along the border with Iraq, suffered all of Iran’s fatalities from Sunday night’s quake that shook 14 of the country’s 31 provinces.
Both rescuers and local residents alike stood on top of the remains of apartment complexes yesterday, looking through the rubble. They used heavy blankets to carry bodies away.
The hospital in Sarpol-e Zahab was badly damaged, and the army set up field hospitals, although many of the injured were moved to other cities, including Tehran.
The quake also damaged an army garrison and buildings in the border city and killed an unspecified number of soldiers, according to reports.
There are fears more dead could be in the rubble in Sarpol-e Zahab and other rural villages in Kermanshah.
Mohammad Ali Monshizadeh, a spokesman for the provincial forensic department, told reporters that as many as 150 people were buried by family members after the earthquake in remote villages who had not been counted in the official death toll.
Iran’s Red Crescent also said it worried about more bodies in rural villages, though it said the rescue operations in larger towns could end soon.
President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Kermanshah yesterday to see the damage for himself and offer his support to those affected.
“This was a pain for all Iranians,” Rouhani said, according to a statement on the presidency’s website. “Representing the nation of Iran, I offer my condolences to the people of Kermanshah, and tell them that all of us are behind Kermanshah.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif offered his thanks to foreign countries offering to help but said: “For now, we are able to manage with our own resources.”
Cleric Abdolhossein Moezi, a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who also is touring the area, said there was a need for more relief material and “security.” That was echoed by Nazar Barani, mayor of the town of Ezgeleh, who told state TV his people still had a “deep need” for food, medicine and tents. He said 80 percent of the buildings in the town had been damaged.
Many of the damaged complexes in Sarpol-e Zahab were part of construction projects under former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The newly homeless slept outside in cold, huddled around makeshift fires for warmth.
The quake killed 530 people in Iran and injured 7,460, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. Most of the injuries were minor with fewer than 1,000 still in hospital, Iran’s crisis management headquarters spokesman Behnam Saeedi told state TV.
The quake was centered about 31 kilometers outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja, according to the US Geological Survey, and struck 23.2km below the surface, a somewhat shallow depth that can cause broader damage. The quake caused Dubai’s skyscrapers to sway and could be felt 1,060km away on the Mediterranean coast.
Seven deaths occurred in Iraq and 535 people were injured, all in the country’s northern, semi-autonomous Kurdish region, according to its interior ministry.
The disparity in casualty tolls immediately drew questions from Iranians, especially because so much of the town was new.
Sarpol-e Zahab fell to the troops of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein during his 1980 invasion of Iran, which sparked the eight-year war between the two countries that killed 1 million people. Though clawed back by Iran seven months later, the area remained a war zone that suffered through Saddam’s missile attacks and chemical weapons.
After the war, Iran began rebuilding the town. It also was part of Ahmadinejad’s low-income housing project, which aided the Holocaust-questioning hard-liner’s populist credentials but also saw cheap construction.
Under the plan dubbed as Mehr or “kindness” in Farsi, some 2 million units were built in Iran, including hundreds in Sarpol-e Zahab. Many criticized the plan, warning that the low-quality construction could lead to a disaster.
“Before its 10-year anniversary, Mehr buildings have turned into coffins for its inhabitants,” the reformist Fararu news website wrote on Monday.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
