Foreign aid to Iran quake victims continues
The UN and an Italian church have aided the victims of the deadliest earthquake of the year in the western province of Kermanshah.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has sent humanitarian consignment to the earthquake affected people.
On November 12, a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck villages and towns in Kermanshah Province along the mountainous border with Iraq, killing 620 people and injuring thousands in the Iranian side.
The UNHCR sent 7,044 warm blankets and 1,350 family tents on three occasions to help the earthquake sufferers.
Also, 10,200 warm blankets and 1,260 family tents will be shipped by sea.
Also with the permission of the Iranian government, a team from Caritas Italiana, the relief and development agency of the Church in Italy, has visited the site of the earthquake in Kermanshah, Catholic Culture reported.
Caritas Italiana, working with Iranian charity organizations, plans to contribute to the reconstruction of schools and bathroom facilities.
Official data showed in November that 30,000 residential complexes were damaged, with more than 15,000 of those were completely destroyed. Authorities estimated more than 100,000 people were left homeless by the quake.
The United Nations agencies in November delivered medical supplies to the areas of Iran and Iraq, and urged vigilance against the possible outbreaks of infectious and waterborne diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) also airlifted trauma kits and medical supplies to Iran to support treatment for thousands of people injured. Crisscrossed by several major geological fault lines, Iran is one of the world’s most quakeprone countries. In 2003, a magnitude 6.6 quake in Kerman Province killed 31,000 people and flattened the ancient city of Bam.