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CNN Saturday Morning News
Iran is Reeling From Major Earthquake
Aired December 27, 2003 - 09:07 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.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: We move on to southern Iran, which is reeling today from a major earthquake. The seismic event caused massive damage and casualties and overwhelmed local officials. All basic services are, in essence, gone.
CNN's Matthew Chance is in Bam and joins us now with a live report. Good day to you, Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sean, thank you very much.
And the scene of devastation here in Bam, a remote town in the southeast of Iran, is quite overwhelming. Literally, this is a town, to give you an idea, of about 80,000 people. It is in a remote location in that part of the country.
Virtually every building in it has been damaged in some way by this quake, which measured 6.7 on the scale of magnitude, according to the U.S. Geological Society.
But the actual buildings in the middle of the town, the old historic center, some of those buildings dating back 2,000 years, was completely destroyed, literally. I'm in the streets of that old town now. There is not a building left standing, just mounds upon mounds of rubble.
And, of course, under that rubble, the massive human cost of this natural catastrophe.
The Iranian officials that we've spoken to have been unclear about exactly how many people they believe are dead. Estimates have ranged between 5,000 and as many as 20,000.
But the fact of the matter is, Sean, is that the real human cost of this is yet to be reckoned.
The rescue workers are still picking bodies out of the rubble as we speak.
CALLEBS: Well, Matthew, we know that's a area of about 80,000 people where the, basically, the epicenter of the earthquake was. And they're calling for a three-day period of mourning there. Are there any chance at -- is there any chance at this point of finding survivors underneath all this mud and brick?
CHANCE: Well, it's interesting, because they have called this three-day period of mourning. But for most people that we've spoken to, the vast majority of people here, friends and neighbors, people from other towns who have come in to try to find people they knew, those bodies have not yet been recovered.
And so that process of mourning, you know, hasn't really started for them yet. It will begin when they realize what happened to their family members.
But to answer your question, well, it's pretty much unclear what can be done in the days ahead.
CALLEBS: And talk about the efforts right now to bring aid to that area. You mentioned it's quite remote, out basically on the end of the Silk Road. But what about you? How was it getting in there? What did you see on your way in? And we just talked about just the overwhelming sense of grief that these people must be feeling at this point. Where do you begin?
CHANCE: Well, it's very difficult. And the chaos in the city, as you can imagine, is quite overwhelming in itself. There are big traffic jams. That, of course, is hampering the aid effort. There are people coming in with shovels from surrounding towns and cities, trying to lend a hand indeed.
There was an appeal from the Iranian government on the state television channels here for people to make their way to this town, simply because the Iranian government realizes this crisis is so big, they cannot handle it themselves.
They've deployed the army, they've deployed the resources of various militaries. But it is really the bare hands of ordinary people in this area that is taking brick by brick off these mounds of rubble and pulling out the individual bodies.
At the same time, the international aid organizations are here doing what they can. The International Federation of the Red Cross, which is a big operation here, has been distributing food and tents and blankets to at least help the survivors of this quake.
And there are many tens of thousands of them, fortunately, survive what will be difficult days ahead, Sean.
CALLEBS: OK, Matthew Chance in the city of Bam in Iran, devastated by that earthquake. Matthew, thanks very much for that live report. And we will continue to check in with you.
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 27, 2003 - 09:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: We move on to southern Iran, which is reeling today from a major earthquake. The seismic event caused massive damage and casualties and overwhelmed local officials. All basic services are, in essence, gone.
CNN's Matthew Chance is in Bam and joins us now with a live report. Good day to you, Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sean, thank you very much.
And the scene of devastation here in Bam, a remote town in the southeast of Iran, is quite overwhelming. Literally, this is a town, to give you an idea, of about 80,000 people. It is in a remote location in that part of the country.
Virtually every building in it has been damaged in some way by this quake, which measured 6.7 on the scale of magnitude, according to the U.S. Geological Society.
But the actual buildings in the middle of the town, the old historic center, some of those buildings dating back 2,000 years, was completely destroyed, literally. I'm in the streets of that old town now. There is not a building left standing, just mounds upon mounds of rubble.
And, of course, under that rubble, the massive human cost of this natural catastrophe.
The Iranian officials that we've spoken to have been unclear about exactly how many people they believe are dead. Estimates have ranged between 5,000 and as many as 20,000.
But the fact of the matter is, Sean, is that the real human cost of this is yet to be reckoned.
The rescue workers are still picking bodies out of the rubble as we speak.
CALLEBS: Well, Matthew, we know that's a area of about 80,000 people where the, basically, the epicenter of the earthquake was. And they're calling for a three-day period of mourning there. Are there any chance at -- is there any chance at this point of finding survivors underneath all this mud and brick?
CHANCE: Well, it's interesting, because they have called this three-day period of mourning. But for most people that we've spoken to, the vast majority of people here, friends and neighbors, people from other towns who have come in to try to find people they knew, those bodies have not yet been recovered.
And so that process of mourning, you know, hasn't really started for them yet. It will begin when they realize what happened to their family members.
But to answer your question, well, it's pretty much unclear what can be done in the days ahead.
CALLEBS: And talk about the efforts right now to bring aid to that area. You mentioned it's quite remote, out basically on the end of the Silk Road. But what about you? How was it getting in there? What did you see on your way in? And we just talked about just the overwhelming sense of grief that these people must be feeling at this point. Where do you begin?
CHANCE: Well, it's very difficult. And the chaos in the city, as you can imagine, is quite overwhelming in itself. There are big traffic jams. That, of course, is hampering the aid effort. There are people coming in with shovels from surrounding towns and cities, trying to lend a hand indeed.
There was an appeal from the Iranian government on the state television channels here for people to make their way to this town, simply because the Iranian government realizes this crisis is so big, they cannot handle it themselves.
They've deployed the army, they've deployed the resources of various militaries. But it is really the bare hands of ordinary people in this area that is taking brick by brick off these mounds of rubble and pulling out the individual bodies.
At the same time, the international aid organizations are here doing what they can. The International Federation of the Red Cross, which is a big operation here, has been distributing food and tents and blankets to at least help the survivors of this quake.
And there are many tens of thousands of them, fortunately, survive what will be difficult days ahead, Sean.
CALLEBS: OK, Matthew Chance in the city of Bam in Iran, devastated by that earthquake. Matthew, thanks very much for that live report. And we will continue to check in with you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
