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Rescue Effort in Iran Becomes Recovery
Aired December 29, 2003 - 13:09 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to southeast Iran where at least 25,000 people, 25,000 are known to have perished in last week's cataclysmic earthquake. Search and rescue teams from other countries have been sent home though they continue to reach the provincial airport from around the world trying to help out. CNN's Ryan Chilcote join us via videophone from the shattered city of Bam. Hello, Ryan.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, that death toll now stands, as you said at 25,000. It is an absolutely astounding figure, that number coming to us from an Iranian official who says that is the number of bodies that they have already pulled from out underneath the rubble.
Now that does not include, of course, the bodies that they continue to find even now -- even though it is dark that they continue to pull out from underneath the rubble. He said most of those 25,000 that had been -- those bodies that have been recovered have already been buried.
Now I have been to the cemetery. It's actually a mass grave that's being dug by bulldozers right next to the town cemetery on the outskirts of the city. And the burial continues there. It's almost like an assembly line, bulldozers, digging that mass grave, bodies being loaded in all of the time and then bulldozers covering it up.
There are aid workers from all over the world here now including this morning a team from the United States, reported arrived in the nearby airport. And they should be here any moment now. A team of some 80 officials from the United States. That will include search and rescue officials and an assessment team.
And that is very important, of course, because despite the fact that they were able to find three people alive underneath the rubble yesterday, including a 14-year-old girl, they have not reported finding anyone alive today underneath the rubble.
And according to the U.N. official who's responsible for coordinating the international relief efforts here the main story now, the emerging crisis is a humanitarian one that concerns the survivors. Their biggest concern here is that the bodies that have not been buried yet, as they decompose, that they pose a threat of spreading disease to other people here.
There is, of course, the other very serious humanitarian problem of the lack of housing here. This was a city of some 200,000 people. And almost every single structure in this city crumbled on Friday after that earthquake. There's also very little electricity and very little water -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Ryan, as you travel around there, what is the big -- and this is a tough question, I know there are so many of these. But what's the biggest need that is unanswered that needs -- they need assistance on?
CHILCOTE: The biggest need at this point is undoubtedly the need to bury the remaining bodies in -- that are trapped underneath that rubble. They need to get those bodies in those mass graves as quickly as possible.
Aid officials here really worried about that. They've advised people to wear a mask. If you walk around on the streets, about one out of every three people on the street are wearing those masks right now. They're wearing those masks to try and protect themselves from the possibility of being infected with disease that might be airborne from the decomposing bodies.
The next biggest issue, Miles, of course is housing. All these aid organization are here and it is truly great they're here in such large numbers, but it is difficult to understand how they will be able to provide these people with long-term housing. It is cold here already. It will get colder. And these people obviously can't spend the entire winter in tents -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Ryan Chilcote in Bam, Iran. Thank you very much.
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 29, 2003 - 13:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to southeast Iran where at least 25,000 people, 25,000 are known to have perished in last week's cataclysmic earthquake. Search and rescue teams from other countries have been sent home though they continue to reach the provincial airport from around the world trying to help out. CNN's Ryan Chilcote join us via videophone from the shattered city of Bam. Hello, Ryan.
RYAN CHILCOTE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, that death toll now stands, as you said at 25,000. It is an absolutely astounding figure, that number coming to us from an Iranian official who says that is the number of bodies that they have already pulled from out underneath the rubble.
Now that does not include, of course, the bodies that they continue to find even now -- even though it is dark that they continue to pull out from underneath the rubble. He said most of those 25,000 that had been -- those bodies that have been recovered have already been buried.
Now I have been to the cemetery. It's actually a mass grave that's being dug by bulldozers right next to the town cemetery on the outskirts of the city. And the burial continues there. It's almost like an assembly line, bulldozers, digging that mass grave, bodies being loaded in all of the time and then bulldozers covering it up.
There are aid workers from all over the world here now including this morning a team from the United States, reported arrived in the nearby airport. And they should be here any moment now. A team of some 80 officials from the United States. That will include search and rescue officials and an assessment team.
And that is very important, of course, because despite the fact that they were able to find three people alive underneath the rubble yesterday, including a 14-year-old girl, they have not reported finding anyone alive today underneath the rubble.
And according to the U.N. official who's responsible for coordinating the international relief efforts here the main story now, the emerging crisis is a humanitarian one that concerns the survivors. Their biggest concern here is that the bodies that have not been buried yet, as they decompose, that they pose a threat of spreading disease to other people here.
There is, of course, the other very serious humanitarian problem of the lack of housing here. This was a city of some 200,000 people. And almost every single structure in this city crumbled on Friday after that earthquake. There's also very little electricity and very little water -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Ryan, as you travel around there, what is the big -- and this is a tough question, I know there are so many of these. But what's the biggest need that is unanswered that needs -- they need assistance on?
CHILCOTE: The biggest need at this point is undoubtedly the need to bury the remaining bodies in -- that are trapped underneath that rubble. They need to get those bodies in those mass graves as quickly as possible.
Aid officials here really worried about that. They've advised people to wear a mask. If you walk around on the streets, about one out of every three people on the street are wearing those masks right now. They're wearing those masks to try and protect themselves from the possibility of being infected with disease that might be airborne from the decomposing bodies.
The next biggest issue, Miles, of course is housing. All these aid organization are here and it is truly great they're here in such large numbers, but it is difficult to understand how they will be able to provide these people with long-term housing. It is cold here already. It will get colder. And these people obviously can't spend the entire winter in tents -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Ryan Chilcote in Bam, Iran. Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
