A United Nations (UN) assessment team in the affected regions of Saturday’s deadly earthquake in northwestern Iran says ”hundreds of people were killed” and an estimated 2 000-4 000 injured, a statement issued on Monday said.
It also said Saturday’s earthquake which struck the city of Bouynzahra in the western Qazvin province and affected about eight provinces in the north and west of the country, registered 6,3 degrees on the Richter scale, as opposed to the 6,0 degrees which Iran announced.
The UN team is charged with ”getting first-hand information on the impact of the disaster and to highlight outstanding relief needs,” the statement said, adding that ”findings from the mission will be used as a basis for further UN assistance”.
The UN Development Programme (UNDP) ”has already provided 50 000 dollars as relief aid and for the coordination of international assistance,” the statement said.
According to the latest official estimates released on Sunday by Iran’s interior ministry, the quake left 230 people dead, against an earlier estimate of 500.
”The earthquake caused 227 deaths in the Qazvin region and three in Hamedan, and around 1 000 injured in total”, state television quoted a ministry statement as saying.
However the official news agency IRNA, quoting local officials, said later that five people had been killed in Zanjan province northwest of Qazvin, where heavy damage had been caused to 126 villages around Khodabandeh.
State radio reported another 10 dead in Qazvin, taking the total to 245.
Saturday’s killer quake, which has since been followed by at least 48 aftershocks, destroyed communities across northwestern Iran, and has left about 12 000 people homeless.
Iran has not appealed for international help, but has not refused financial and material aid from the international community which was quick to express sympathy and offer help. – Sapa-AFP