Parliament Representative: Many Children Severely Ill in Earthquake-Stricken Sarab Region
Youssef Davudi, parliament representative of Sarab, reported that “many children in the earthquake-stricken areas of Sarab are suffering from severe colds” and said that these children’s bodies have become “completely cold-stricken.”
According to ISNA news agency’s report on Saturday (November 18), Davudi, during a crisis management session at the East Azerbaijan Province Governor’s office, added that “given the weather conditions in the earthquake-stricken areas of Sarab city, people are severely ill and we need at least seven to eight teams of general practitioners to visit the patients.”
He pointed to the significantly low temperatures in Sarab and criticized the lack of electric heaters for the temporary shelter tents of earthquake victims, saying that on Saturday “we almost lost five people due to carbon monoxide poisoning from heating equipment in the tents.”
Davudi 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 an increase in diseases such as common colds” as major problems facing people in the 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, that a 15-day-old infant whose parents died the previous day from carbon monoxide poisoning had been saved.
According to Rahmani, “the invisible killer did not defeat the 15-day-old earthquake victim,” and the infant 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 failure to observe safety measures.”
Based on this report, a total of 720 people have been injured following a 5.9-magnitude earthquake in Mianeh, with the most common cause of injuries being fleeing from earthquake-damaged homes and stress; of this number, 450 injured were from Sarab city and the rest from Mianeh.
The earthquake, which struck the city of Turk in Mianeh county of 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 Province, the earthquake caused 10 to 100 percent damage to over 2,300 residential units and resulted in the loss of over 1,500 heads of livestock.
Another report indicates that Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, asked the relevant ministries to examine the needs of earthquake victims and “build shelters for them as soon as possible.”
Larijani, referring to the assignment of a task to the construction commission to send a delegation to the earthquake-stricken areas of Mianeh and Sarab, and considering the cold weather in those areas, added: “The Housing Foundation and the Red Crescent Society must make serious efforts. The Interior Ministry should also do its work with due diligence.”
Source: Radbo Tomorrow
