This Large Cemetery Was Once the City of Bam - December 31, 2003

This large cemetery was once the city of Bam - a report from IRNA. Arash Irani, a reporter for the official Iranian news agency (IRNA), today, December 31, has sent a report on the tragic situation of the earthquake-stricken city of Bam on the fifth day of the disaster. The thought that people are breathing under the rubble is the most distressing image in the earthquake-hit city of Bam today, that someone is waiting for help under that mound of dirt or a child is hearing sounds from beneath the debris... Is there still anyone alive after five days? On Tuesday, it was announced in Bam that search operations would continue until nightfall, and from tomorrow, bulldozers would start working. The arrival of bulldozers is not a good sign, and the flicker of hope is extinguished with their movement, but rescue and search officials say that given the extent of the destruction, there is no alternative but to use heavy machinery. One of the individuals who has been involved in the burial of the dead over the past five days says: the longer time passes, the more the bodies decompose, and the delay in finding the bodies makes identification difficult and also exposes the city of Bam to another crisis such as the outbreak of infectious diseases. Although foreign rescue teams are still searching among the ruins, they say the likelihood of finding anyone alive under the rubble is very slim. In the past five days, more than two thousand people have been rescued alive from under the rubble, but this number decreases as time passes since the earthquake. The number of bodies found has also significantly decreased. Almost with every body, a bloody pillow emerges from the ground, and sometimes mattresses or pillows are the first signs for the searchers. While searching, other items also come out from the ground, such as exam preparation booklets, books, photo albums, etc., each of which signifies a life. A woman searches through the rubble with rescuers for her mother and brother, digging through a mound of dirt. She had long doubted the location of her mother's house until she finally found some signs, like the neighbor's car that was buried under the debris. They stood on the roof of the house that was stuck to the ground, and now, the living room, hallway, and bedroom... from every corner, they peeled off the ceiling, but the search was fruitless. The woman told the IRNA reporter that she had found four members of her family dead, but there is no sign of her brother and mother. A strong odor spreads through the streets of Bam, a smell that intensifies with time. This large cemetery was once the city of Bam.