Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Severe Earthquake in Southeastern Iran
Aired December 26, 2003 - 06:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thousands of deaths and widespread destruction being reported following a severe earthquake in southeastern Iran. The tremor, with a magnitude of at least 6.3, was centered near the historic city of Bam. Communications were cut off to the area so specifics are still very sketchy.
Journalist Shirzad Bozorgmehr joins us live on the phone again from Tehran with the latest.
What are the latest numbers that you have right now, Shirzad?
SHIRZAD BOZORGMEHR, JOURNALIST: The authorities said 2,000 people have been concerned dead in the earthquake. But the estimates run as high as 20,000 eventually, they're saying, that the number could reach at least 20,000.
The desert city in the southeastern part of Iran, the city of Bam, was hit by a strong earthquake, measuring 6.3, at about 2:00 a.m. GMT. The quake destroyed more than 60 percent, maybe even 70 percent of the city, reportedly, and this is a time that, an indication that many more people may have been buried under the rubble.
The problem right now is that the hospitals, the major hospitals in the city there have been destroyed and the staff has been killed or injured. And therefore the victims are now being transported to the capital of, the provincial capital of Berman.
This has created a traffic jam on the roads and the police are now preventing private cars from going on that road and just they're still carrying bodies that are alive on that. On top of that, the helicopters, military helicopters are also taking part in the rescue mission and taking the injured to the hospitals in other cities.
Electricity, telephones and water, at this point, are all down. They have not been able to bring them back up yet. This is why reports are kind of sketchy so far.
Many people have been made homeless. Numbers in tens of thousands have been made homeless. There were other earthquakes in several other provinces of Iran, also, in Esfahan, in the south of Iran in (UNINTELLIGIBLE). But there are no reported casualties or damage there so far.
WHITFIELD: Now, Shirzad, I wonder if you could describe the scene for us and how people are managing to pull together to try to, you know, with their bare hands try and pull some of the rubble in search for any potential survivors. BOZORGMEHR: In some cases, they are using their bare hands. But rescue teams have arrived and many teams have been sent from the capital, Tehran; others from other local cities around them. As I said, they're asking for road construction equipment in order to clear the roads so they can get the injured quickly to city hospitals outside the Bam city itself and to Berman and the other cities of that region.
Another thing they desperately need, and they have said so, is the supply of blood. All types of blood are urgently needed and people have been urging in those areas to go and donate blood. People are doing so.
The locals are voluntarily working with the officials to rescue -- in search and rescue missions. The reports are sketchy. We don't know the real devastation or the magnitude of devastation. But judging by what the officials are saying and the fact that it happened early in the morning and the size of it and the ancient structures of the city, it could be devastating. It could be many, many thousands killed.
WHITFIELD: Shirzad Bozorgmehr, thanks very much for that update.
We'll be continuing to check with you throughout the morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 26, 2003 - 06:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thousands of deaths and widespread destruction being reported following a severe earthquake in southeastern Iran. The tremor, with a magnitude of at least 6.3, was centered near the historic city of Bam. Communications were cut off to the area so specifics are still very sketchy.
Journalist Shirzad Bozorgmehr joins us live on the phone again from Tehran with the latest.
What are the latest numbers that you have right now, Shirzad?
SHIRZAD BOZORGMEHR, JOURNALIST: The authorities said 2,000 people have been concerned dead in the earthquake. But the estimates run as high as 20,000 eventually, they're saying, that the number could reach at least 20,000.
The desert city in the southeastern part of Iran, the city of Bam, was hit by a strong earthquake, measuring 6.3, at about 2:00 a.m. GMT. The quake destroyed more than 60 percent, maybe even 70 percent of the city, reportedly, and this is a time that, an indication that many more people may have been buried under the rubble.
The problem right now is that the hospitals, the major hospitals in the city there have been destroyed and the staff has been killed or injured. And therefore the victims are now being transported to the capital of, the provincial capital of Berman.
This has created a traffic jam on the roads and the police are now preventing private cars from going on that road and just they're still carrying bodies that are alive on that. On top of that, the helicopters, military helicopters are also taking part in the rescue mission and taking the injured to the hospitals in other cities.
Electricity, telephones and water, at this point, are all down. They have not been able to bring them back up yet. This is why reports are kind of sketchy so far.
Many people have been made homeless. Numbers in tens of thousands have been made homeless. There were other earthquakes in several other provinces of Iran, also, in Esfahan, in the south of Iran in (UNINTELLIGIBLE). But there are no reported casualties or damage there so far.
WHITFIELD: Now, Shirzad, I wonder if you could describe the scene for us and how people are managing to pull together to try to, you know, with their bare hands try and pull some of the rubble in search for any potential survivors. BOZORGMEHR: In some cases, they are using their bare hands. But rescue teams have arrived and many teams have been sent from the capital, Tehran; others from other local cities around them. As I said, they're asking for road construction equipment in order to clear the roads so they can get the injured quickly to city hospitals outside the Bam city itself and to Berman and the other cities of that region.
Another thing they desperately need, and they have said so, is the supply of blood. All types of blood are urgently needed and people have been urging in those areas to go and donate blood. People are doing so.
The locals are voluntarily working with the officials to rescue -- in search and rescue missions. The reports are sketchy. We don't know the real devastation or the magnitude of devastation. But judging by what the officials are saying and the fact that it happened early in the morning and the size of it and the ancient structures of the city, it could be devastating. It could be many, many thousands killed.
WHITFIELD: Shirzad Bozorgmehr, thanks very much for that update.
We'll be continuing to check with you throughout the morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
