BAM, Iran, 1 January 2004 — Survivors of the devastating earthquake in the southeastern city of Bam prepared to spend a sixth night in the freezing cold as relief, including an 80-strong US team, continued to flood in yesterday.
Newspapers reported five cases of near miraculous escapes, including a baby, a young girl and an 80-year-old woman pulled out of the rubble, five days after the disaster struck.
Around 26,500 bodies have been buried so far, the spokesman for the Kerman provincial government, Assadollah Iranmanesh, told AFP, lowering earlier estimates. “This figure is not expected to change much.”
The Interior Ministry did not confirm the figure and cautioned that several evacuated survivors could have died of their injuries in hospitals of other provinces and would not figure in the total.
President Mohammad Khatami during a tour of the area on Tuesday estimated a final death toll of 40,000, more than the 37,000 killed in June 1990 quake in northwestern Iran.
Sixty US medical specialists, including seven surgeons, were to set up a field hospital yesterday in the center of Bam, where only a few buildings have been left standing.
The medical team, along with some 20 specialists from USAID, a government body, are the first official US representatives to set foot in Iran since diplomatic links were broken more than 20 years ago.
With the world mobilized, about 130 planes from 40 countries have flown in emergency aid and equipment, while 1,700 foreign rescue workers have also rushed in.
Iranian officials gave out small bouquets of roses for the New Year’s Eve to members of international rescue teams.
