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CNN Live At Daybreak
Earthquake Rescue Efforts in Iran
Aired January 05, 2004 - 05:32 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Updating you now on earthquake rescue efforts in Iran. The Iranian government says this is just not the right time for a high level U.S. humanitarian mission. A top Iranian official spoke exclusively to CNN about the decision to reject the U.S. offer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYATOLLAH HASSAN ROHANI, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL HEAD (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We have to see just how convenient the social conditions and regional circumstances are for such a visit to Iran, whether such a visit can prove useful. The government has formed the opinion the time is not appropriate for this visit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Well, let's head live to Iran now to find out how those recovery efforts are going.
CNN's Kasra Naji is there.
He has the latest for us from Bam.
And it looks like you're in front of a large tent city.
KASRA NAJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol. Where we are standing is on the side road in central Bam. What you see behind me are tents that have replaced collapsed houses here. Tens of thousands of people live in these tents and they've just spent another night out in the open. That is one of the main sources if they can stand the cold at night. This is a desert area. It's very pleasant during the day, but at night it gets freezing cold. And if you have small children or elderly in the family, it's the main problem.
As you can see behind me here, they are setting up a new camp. This is the sort of scene that you see throughout the city, people setting up new camps, people settling in new camps, people looking for new tents here. And this is what you see.
As I said, the source of concern, cold, a lack of running water, and also the prospect, they want to know how long they will be living here. The Iranian authorities are talking about prefabricated houses to be brought here, but we haven't seen those yet.
In the meantime, day 11 and they're still bringing bodies out from under the rubble. And the Iranian authorities now say the figure for the casualties stands at 30,000 people. Thirty thousand people have died in this earthquake and they say 14,500 injured.
By the way, included in those 30,000 figure is one American tourist. We just found out that this American tourist was among 12 tourists who died. And finally he was staying here with his wife in a guest house, which collapsed on top of him. He was rescued soon after from under the rubble, but died later of internal injuries -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Kasra Naji reporting live from Bam, Iran this 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 January 5, 2004 - 05:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Updating you now on earthquake rescue efforts in Iran. The Iranian government says this is just not the right time for a high level U.S. humanitarian mission. A top Iranian official spoke exclusively to CNN about the decision to reject the U.S. offer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AYATOLLAH HASSAN ROHANI, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL HEAD (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We have to see just how convenient the social conditions and regional circumstances are for such a visit to Iran, whether such a visit can prove useful. The government has formed the opinion the time is not appropriate for this visit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Well, let's head live to Iran now to find out how those recovery efforts are going.
CNN's Kasra Naji is there.
He has the latest for us from Bam.
And it looks like you're in front of a large tent city.
KASRA NAJI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Carol. Where we are standing is on the side road in central Bam. What you see behind me are tents that have replaced collapsed houses here. Tens of thousands of people live in these tents and they've just spent another night out in the open. That is one of the main sources if they can stand the cold at night. This is a desert area. It's very pleasant during the day, but at night it gets freezing cold. And if you have small children or elderly in the family, it's the main problem.
As you can see behind me here, they are setting up a new camp. This is the sort of scene that you see throughout the city, people setting up new camps, people settling in new camps, people looking for new tents here. And this is what you see.
As I said, the source of concern, cold, a lack of running water, and also the prospect, they want to know how long they will be living here. The Iranian authorities are talking about prefabricated houses to be brought here, but we haven't seen those yet.
In the meantime, day 11 and they're still bringing bodies out from under the rubble. And the Iranian authorities now say the figure for the casualties stands at 30,000 people. Thirty thousand people have died in this earthquake and they say 14,500 injured.
By the way, included in those 30,000 figure is one American tourist. We just found out that this American tourist was among 12 tourists who died. And finally he was staying here with his wife in a guest house, which collapsed on top of him. He was rescued soon after from under the rubble, but died later of internal injuries -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Kasra Naji reporting live from Bam, Iran this 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
