& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

IRAN QUAKE

Toll surges up to 20,000

FOX NEWS, REUTERS, AFP, Bam, Iran
The death toll from a massive 6.7 magnitude earthquake in Iran has hit 20,000 and will likely go higher, according to the country's Interior Ministry.
More than 30,000 were also injured in the quake that devastated the historic city of Bam.
Overwhelmed rescue crews picked through entire city blocks of rubble in search for survivors and bodies yesterday, one day after the huge temblor.
Many people were still pinned under the rubble of the shattered city of 80,000, their prospects of survival diminishing with the passing of time. Homeless survivors awoke from a piercingly cold night huddled under woolen blankets to find a city without water and power.
"As more bodies are pulled out, we fear that the death toll may reach as high as 40,000. An unbelievable human disaster has occurred," said Akbar Alavi, the governor of the city of Kerman, the provincial capital.
The leader of one relief team, Ahmad Najafi, said in one street alone in Bam yesterday, 200 bodies had been extracted from the rubble in one hour's work. Workers used their bare hands and shovels, while a few bulldozers moved piles of bricks in the search for bodies and survivors.
With hospitals in the area destroyed, military transport planes had to evacuate many wounded for treatment to Kerman, and even to Tehran.
"There is not a standing building in the city. Bam has turned into a wasteland. Even if a few buildings are standing, you cannot trust to live in them," Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari told reporters yesterday.
One man interrupted Lari as he spoke. "My father is under the rubble," the man said, his face streaked with tears. "I've been asking for help since yesterday, but nobody has come to help me. Please help me. I want my father alive."
President Mohammad Khatami
SEE PAGE 11 COL 7
FROM PAGE 1
has admitted Iran cannot cope on its own. The official IRNA news agency quoted Iran's Interior Ministry as saying assistance would be welcome from every corner of the globe other than Israel.
Swiss rescuers with sniffer dogs were the first foreign team to start hunting for trapped survivors, Iranian television said.
Reuters witnesses said the city's graveyards were crammed to overflowing with fully-clothed corpses and a stench of death was beginning to pervade the streets.
The International Red Crescent has advised people to wear gloves and facemasks because of fears of an epidemic.
Fatemeh, 35, was burying her two children. "I am burying myself in this grave," she said.
Taher, 50, was inconsolable, sobbing "wake up, wake up" to the corpse of his teenage son Farzad.
About 70 per cent of Bam, a popular tourist spot some 1,000 km (600 miles) southeast of the capital Tehran with an historic citadel and other centuries-old buildings, was leveled.
Exhausted, dust-covered rescue worker Omid Alipour said his team had dug out only three injured people during the night.
"We don't have anything, just our bare hands," he said.
Many nations, including Australia, China, Japan and Russia, promised to send assistance and
the government said two planes of Russian aid arrived late Friday. The United States also promised aid, and Alavi, the governor of the city of Kerman, said Iran would accept it.
The only smiles in Bam were on the faces of a movie poster on the wall of a cinema. The cinema was ruined.
A large part of the ancient citadel was destroyed, Kerman province governor Mohammad Ali Karimi said. Dating back 2,000 years, it had sprawling fortifications, towers, stables and a mosque. It was the city's main tourist attraction.
Houses in the date-growing area are traditionally made from mud-brick, making them vulnerable to earthquakes.
Bam is on the old Silk Road route between China and Europe used by merchants and travelers for centuries. It is noted for its inns, a theological school and bazaars.
The country's sharply divided press was united in grief across the conservative and reformist spectrum.
The reformist Sharq newspaper called for builders to observe widely flouted construction laws.
Earthquakes are a regular occurrence in Iran, an oilproducing country crossed by major faultlines.
Some 35,000 people were killed in 1990 when earthquakes of up to 7.7 on the Richter scale hit the northwest of Iran.