Earthquake strikes Iran, killing 377
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-23 02:46

KERMAN, Iran: A powerful earthquake hit southeast Iran yesterday, killing almost 400 people, injuring hundreds and destroying some villages, a local official said.

An Iranian woman and man cry after the loss of their home and family in the village of Dahouyeh near Zarand in southeast Iran yesterday. A powerful earthquake hit the mountainous region, leaving hundreds dead, more injured and some villages destroyed. [Reuters]

The tremour, with a magnitude of 6.4, was centred on the town of Zarand, about 700 kilometres southeast of Teheran and just 250 kilometres from Bam, devastated by an earthquake that killed 31,000 people just over a year ago.

Television images showed residents carrying dead bodies wrapped in bloodied blankets and bed sheets in one of several villages virtually flattened by the early morning quake.

Major towns and cities in the area, however, appeared to have escaped heavy damage, officials said. This meant the toll would not be as high as the many thousands killed in some quakes in Iran in the past.

"The toll now stands at 377 dead and more than 1,000 injured," Ali Komsari, a spokesman for the Kerman provincial governor's office, said.

Unnerved residents in the provincial capital Kerman were out in the streets.

"Everyone is afraid of aftershocks," said taxi driver Nasser Dadbin, 50.

Bare hands

Residents clawed through the rubble with their bare hands, looking for survivors.

"My whole family is dead," one man cried.

Mohammad Ali Karimi, governor of Kerman province, said the area affected by the earthquake contained about 30,000 residents.

"These villages are mostly in mountainous areas and because of rain the dispatch of aid faced problems in early stages," he said. The quake struck at 5:55 am.

An Interior Ministry spokesman said bad weather had prevented helicopters from being used in the rescue effort.

Television showed groups of villagers huddled together in the rain, striking their heads and chests in grief. Hospitals in Zarand were full to capacity, it added.

Mohammad Ali Karimi was quoted as saying that "several villages have been destroyed" by the quake. Rain hampered rescue efforts.

The Geneva-based International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said relief teams from the Iranian Red Crescent were distributing food, tents and blankets.

Mostafa Mohaghegh of the Federation, who spoke with Iranian Red Crescent officials, said in Geneva: The villages of Dahoone and Houtkan were almost totally destroyed.

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