Posted on 1-1-2004
Bam
aid workers step up relief efforts
Aid workers in the earthquake-hit Iranian city of Bam were
today increasing efforts to bring relief to survivors and prevent
the outbreak of diseases caused by poor sanitation and cold
weather.
The moves came as 80 US aid workers and a team from British
agency Oxfam arrived in the devastated city, bringing water
and medical supplies.
Workers rushed blankets and medical supplies to survivors,
with a US team of 60 doctors treating patients at a field hospital.
At least 12,000 inhabitants of the city, in south-eastern Iran,
were injured in last Friday's earthquake. The official death
toll is now more than 28,000, although unnamed Iranian sources
have said that it could be as high as 50,000.
Aid workers fear that the lack of sanitation could lead to
a disease epidemic.
"We are very concerned about the situation in Bam. We
know that thousands of people have lost their homes and do not
have access to clean water," Oxfam's Mhairi Hearle told
the Press Association.
"Restoring this access and providing adequate sanitation
facilities is essential if we are to help prevent the spread
of diseases like typhoid and cholera."
Talks between US aid officials and Iranian ministers have been
taking place amid UK reports that the US is softening its line
towards Iran.
The US president, George Bush, had previously described the
country as being part of the "axis of evil". Yesterday,
he said that there was "a chance for Iran to step forward"
after the earthquake.
Bill Garvelink, the head of the US agency for international
development team, yesterday met Iranian ministers in what he
said was probably the first official meeting between US and
Iranian officials since Washington cut diplomatic links following
the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.
Mr Garvellink insisted the meeting had not focused on political
issues. The Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami yesterday thanked
Washington for US assistance, but downplayed its significance
to the political relationship between the two countries.
Iranian health officials say that they have almost abandoned
hope of finding survivors buried under the rubble of Bam, which
the health ministry has divided up into 10 zones.
"There's no hope of finding people alive," ministry
official Mohammad Nickam told the Associated Press.
Aid is arriving from more than 20 countries. An Australian
air force plane carrying blankets, water purification tablets,
heaters and other equipment has unloaded its supplies in the
provincial capital of Kerman, 120 miles northwest of Bam, a
defence spokesman said.
China has pledged 10 million yuan (£600,000) in additional
aid, the Chinese Foreign Ministry yesterday said on its website.
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