Freezing temperatures and heavy rain continued to hamper the efforts of rescue and relief workers on Wednesday in Iran’s quake-stricken Kerman province.
The death toll has been raised to 450 but was expected to exceed 500 on Wednesday as rescue workers cleared debris and recovered more bodies.
About 1 000 people were injured in the 6,4 on the Richter scale quake that struck the city of Zarand and nearby villages in the early hours of Tuesday.
Speaking on the television news network Khabar, Iranian Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mussavi-Lari said: ”The ministry’s official death toll is 420 and is expected to exceed 500 but not far beyond that figure.”
Kerman provincial Governor, Mohammad-Ali Karimi, told state radio that most of the affected villages have received tents, blankets and food but there are still a few inaccessible mountain areas that have not yet received aid due to poor weather conditions.
The Iranian army has provided helicopters for relief operations and transport planes were dispatched to fly in emergency supplies.
The Iranian Red Crescent has been moving survivors from affected areas to nearby cities in Kerman province. Mosques, tents and vehicles are providing temporary shelter for many people left homeless by the quake but others were forced to sleep outside last night in bitterly cold weather.
Iran has so far refused to accept offers of foreign aid.
The epicentre of the quake was in Kerman province, near the city of Zarand — 740km from the capital, Tehran — which has 130 000 residents. Interior ministry officials said about 40 villages were damaged, some almost completely destroyed.
Zarand and its nearby villages were hit in December 1977 by a quake measuring 6,2 on the Richter scale, killing more than 520 people. The same province was hit in 2003 by a strong quake killing more than 30 000 people in the city of Bam. — Sapa-DPA