Parliament Representative: Many Children Severely Ill in Earthquake-Stricken Sarab Areas
Yousof Davvodi, the representative of Sarab in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, reported that “many children in earthquake-stricken areas of Sarab have caught colds” and stated that the bodies of these children are “completely frost-stricken.”
According to ISNA news agency’s report on Saturday (November 18), Davvodi, during a crisis management session at the East Azerbaijan Governor’s Office, added that “given the weather conditions in the earthquake-stricken areas of Sarab County, people are seriously ill and we need at least seven to eight teams of general practitioners to go to the patients.”
Referencing the notably low temperatures in Sarab, he criticized the lack of electric heaters for the temporary shelter tents of earthquake victims and stated that on Saturday, “we were close to losing five people due to carbon monoxide poisoning from heating equipment in the tents.”
Davvodi also reported the deaths of two people from carbon monoxide inhalation in tents and cited “the need for warm food, provision of safe heating that does not harm people, and prevention of increased diseases such as colds” as major problems facing people in earthquake-stricken areas.
ISNA news agency also reported on Sunday (November 19), citing Farzad Rahmani, head of pre-hospital emergency services at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, about the survival of a 15-day-old child whose parents died the previous day from carbon monoxide poisoning.
According to Mr. Rahmani, “the invisible killer did not overcome the 15-day-old earthquake victim,” and the child is currently in “good physical condition.”
As this official announced, so far “23 earthquake victims in the province have suffered from gas poisoning due to not observing safety measures.”
Based on this report, a total of 720 people have been injured following an earthquake with a magnitude of 5.9 on the Richter scale in Miyane, with the main cause of injuries being escape from earthquake-stricken homes and stress; of this number, 450 injured were from Sarab County and the rest from Miyane.
The earthquake, which struck the city of Turk in Miyane County in East Azerbaijan Province at 2:17 AM on Friday (November 16), has so far resulted in five deaths.
According to the Governor of East Azerbaijan, the earthquake caused 10 to 100 percent damage to more than 2,300 residential units and resulted in the loss of more than 1,500 heads of livestock.
Another report also indicates that Ali Larijani, speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, asked the relevant ministries, after examining the needs of earthquake victims, to “build shelter for them sooner.”
Larijani, referring to the assignment of a mission to the Infrastructure Commission to dispatch delegations to the earthquake-stricken areas of Miyane and Sarab, considering the cold weather in these areas, added: “It is necessary for the Housing Foundation and the Red Crescent to make serious efforts. The Ministry of Interior should also carry out its work with due diligence.”
Source: Radio Farda
