Aid Supplies Arrive For Quake Victims Trucks Bring In Relief For 100,000 Left Homeless

The first international aid supplies trickled into Iran’s earthquake-devastated northeast on Monday, and the government vowed to help survivors of Saturday’s quake rebuild their homes and their lives.

Trucks rumbled into the devastated mountain villages carrying tents, blankets, clothes and food for many of the 100,000 people made homeless by the disaster, which the government said killed at least 2,400. A pro-government newspaper in Tehran and the Red Cross, citing government figures, said the death toll could reach 4,000.

Survivors cheered and mobbed the motorcade of President Hashemi Rafsanjani when he toured the area. At one point, he climbed out of his car to hug an elderly woman who lost her husband. He promised the crowd he would start rebuilding homes within a month and pledged interest-free loans and grants to surviving families.

“We have no other choice but to surrender to our fate,” Rafsanjani said. “There are some things that we can do. But there are things that we cannot do, like compensate (for) the lives of your relatives.”

Searches for loved ones often ended in grief, as villagers in northeastern Iran continued to dig through the dusty wreckage that once was their homes.

One rescue worker in the village of Ardakul switched off his bulldozer when its bucket hit something soft. Digging with a shovel for a half-hour, Hossan Horshaster uncovered the body of a 27-year-old man clutching his dead 3-year-old son to his chest. The man’s wife was found dead on Sunday.

There also were moments of great joy. In Abiz village, Alireza Rayee, 32, was pulled from the rubble Sunday after being trapped for 27 hours. In tears, his mother, Fatemeh, cradled her son’s head in her arms and shouted: “God has given my son a second life.”

Hardest hit by the 7.1-magnitude quake was a 60-mile stretch between the towns of Birjand and Qaen, near the Afghan border. Many of the mud huts that dot the region collapsed in the quake or during the scores of aftershocks.

Iranian officials estimated the damage at $66.7 million, but there were conflicting reports on casualties. Iranian state TV said at least 4,000 people were killed or hurt. Earlier, the government said 2,400 people died and 6,000 were injured.