TEHRAN,
December 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The first
international aid team arrived in Iran Saturday, December 27, amid
fears that the death toll of the devastating earthquake which rocked
the southeastern city of Bam a day earlier could spiral up to 40,000
with more than 50,000 wounded.
"As
more bodies are pulled out, we fear that the death toll may reach as
high as 40,000. An unbelievable human disaster has occurred,"
said Akbar Alavi, the governor of Kerman told the press.
Around
two thirds of homes in the fort of Bam and the surrounding villages
were entirely or partially destroyed in the pre-dawn quake.
The
fort city of Bam, situated about 1000 kilometers south-east from the
capital Tehran, is renowned for its 2,000-year-old citadel Arg-e-Bam,
before the temblor the world's largest mud-brick structure.
Relief
Outpours
In
a related development, the relief supplies from Britain, Germany,
Russia and Switzerland were flown into southeastern Iran early
Saturday.
Other
rescue teams from several dozen world countries had also started
arriving at the quake scene, the United Nations said.
"To
our knowledge, there are currently teams from around 20 countries on
the ground or about to arrive," Madeleine Moulin, spokeswoman for
the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA),
told AFP in Geneva.
A
40-tonne U.N. cargo aircraft carrying aid equipment was due to leave
on Sunday, December 28, she added.
The
transport plane was to fly from southern Italy carrying with 40 tones
of tents, tarpaulins, blankets, generators and water purification
tablets, donated by Italy and Norway.
A
U.N. team was waiting in Kerman, 200 kilometers (120 miles) northwest
of the centre of the disaster, to receive and coordinate relief teams
and supplies.
Aid
workers and equipment will then be dispatched across the region in
coordination with local authorities, Moulin said.
The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) appealed for almost 10
million euros (12 million dollars) to provide aid to some 200,000
people over a six-month period.
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Around two thirds of homes in Bam and surrounding villages were entirely or partially destroyed in the quake (AFP)
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The
world's most serious since 25,000 people were killed in the western
Indian state of Gujarat in 2001, the quake measuring 6.3 on the
Richter scale hit southeastern Iran Friday, entirely destroying the
ancient Silk Road city of Bam along with the large human loss.
Officials
in Tehran also stressed the need for sniffer dogs and aid equipment -
medicines, blankets and tents - rather than foreign volunteers.
"We
don't really need them (foreign volunteers). We have a lot of
volunteers coming in from all over Iran, in fact so many that we are
having difficulties coordinating," Iranian Health Minister Ahmad
Pezeshkian said.
Twenty
people were pulled from the ruins of Bam after being located amid the
rubble by sniffer dogs provided by the Iranian army or European
donors, the official IRNA news agency reported.
The
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said it would
require 20,000 large tents, 30,000 plastic tarpaulins, 200,000
blankets and 30 kerosene generators.
Arabs
Join In
Arab
countries joined offers of support to the Islamic Republic.
Jordan
was preparing to send a military field hospital to Bam, while a
Jordanian humanitarian organization was organizing a shipment of food
supplies, tents, blankets and medicine.
The
Kuwaiti Red Crescent Society said Saturday it would send urgent relief
aid worth 300,000 dollars to the quake victims and appealed for
donations from citizens.
Kuwaiti
Health Ministry said a medical team will leave for Iran Sunday to
provide medical assistance to victims of the devastating earthquake.
Egypt,
that has had strained relations with Tehran for more than 20 years,
said it was ready to help restore the Arg-e-Bam citadel.
Tehran
has said it would accept all kinds of humanitarian aid from all
countries and international organizations with the exception of
Israel.
