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.