Iran quake toll hits 306 as rescuers end search
Source: Agencies |
August 14, 2012, Tuesday
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IRAN yesterday raised its earthquake death toll to 306, a day after rescuers called off the search for survivors from the rubble of their homes in the country's northwest.
Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi told a session of parliament that the number jumped by about 50 after victims expired in the hospital. More than 3,000 people were injured in the twin earthquakes that struck two days ago, she said.
The death toll included some 219 women and children, Dastjerdi said, adding that around 2,000 injured people had been released from hospitals soon after the quake since they had only minor injuries.
Dastjerdi said her ministry has deployed scores of ambulances and medics to the region but still needs helicopters to transfer seriously injured people quickly.
Authorities say old, heavy roofs without frames were largely responsible for the death toll in the rural areas.
Scores of aftershocks have coursed through the region since the 6.4 and 6.3 magnitude quakes hit the area, home to some 300,000 people in a 6,000-square-kilometer borderland near Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Totally leveled
The quakes hit the towns of Ahar, Haris and Varzaqan in East Azerbaijan Province. At least 12 villages were totally leveled, and 425 others sustained damage ranging from 50 to 80 percent, state TV and news agencies reported. Many roads and other infrastructure were heavily damaged. State TV showed relief workers distributing tents and helping survivors, mainly in rural areas.
Meanwhile Iran's Red Crescent Society said the country does not need any foreign aid.
Spokesman Pouya Hajian told semiofficial ISNA news agency that the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, UNICEF, Turkey, Singapore, Germany and many embassies in Tehran had offered help but that the Iranian Red Crescent is able to support the quake-stricken areas.
The head of Red Crescent Society in the quake-struck province also said international aid was not needed. The ISNA report added that Iran has sent back a rescue team from Turkey that had arrived in the region without advance coordination.
Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. In 2003, some 26,000 people were killed by a 6.6 magnitude quake that flattened the historic southeastern city of Bam.
Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi told a session of parliament that the number jumped by about 50 after victims expired in the hospital. More than 3,000 people were injured in the twin earthquakes that struck two days ago, she said.
The death toll included some 219 women and children, Dastjerdi said, adding that around 2,000 injured people had been released from hospitals soon after the quake since they had only minor injuries.
Dastjerdi said her ministry has deployed scores of ambulances and medics to the region but still needs helicopters to transfer seriously injured people quickly.
Authorities say old, heavy roofs without frames were largely responsible for the death toll in the rural areas.
Scores of aftershocks have coursed through the region since the 6.4 and 6.3 magnitude quakes hit the area, home to some 300,000 people in a 6,000-square-kilometer borderland near Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Totally leveled
The quakes hit the towns of Ahar, Haris and Varzaqan in East Azerbaijan Province. At least 12 villages were totally leveled, and 425 others sustained damage ranging from 50 to 80 percent, state TV and news agencies reported. Many roads and other infrastructure were heavily damaged. State TV showed relief workers distributing tents and helping survivors, mainly in rural areas.
Meanwhile Iran's Red Crescent Society said the country does not need any foreign aid.
Spokesman Pouya Hajian told semiofficial ISNA news agency that the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, UNICEF, Turkey, Singapore, Germany and many embassies in Tehran had offered help but that the Iranian Red Crescent is able to support the quake-stricken areas.
The head of Red Crescent Society in the quake-struck province also said international aid was not needed. The ISNA report added that Iran has sent back a rescue team from Turkey that had arrived in the region without advance coordination.
Iran is located on seismic fault lines and is prone to earthquakes. In 2003, some 26,000 people were killed by a 6.6 magnitude quake that flattened the historic southeastern city of Bam.
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