Eleven more survivors were pulled from the devastation caused by the Bam quake, Iran's state radio said.
They included Yadollah Saadat, aged 37, who was rescued six days after the earthquake shattered the Iranian city, thanks to the persistance of his wife Fatmeh Asgari, relief workers said. Saadat had been apparently protected by a closet which toppled over him as his house collapsed, forming a cavity.
His wife, who was knocked out, recovered consciousness in hospital and insisted on returning to their home to search for her husband. He was found, also unconscious and with a fractured pelvis, but had recovered enough to speak as he was being flown out Thursday to hospital in the capital of Tehran.
In the meantime, experts in Iran said on Thursday they had updated the magnitude of last week's tremor up to 6.8 on the Richter scale, instead of the previous estimate of 6.3, based on data received from various sites in Bam and its surroundings.
In a related development, the United States State Department said it was issuing additional licenses allowing the US government and US NGOs to export to Iran sensitive items like transportation equipment, satellite telephones, and radio and personal computing items.
"After consultation with Congress, the Secretary of State determined that, due to the extraordinary humanitarian needs created by the earthquake, it is in the national interest of the United States," to allow such exports, the State Department's number two spokesman, Adam Ereli, said in a statement.
The general license, valid for three months from last Saturday, allows American citizens to make direct contributions of US dollars to Iranian and other organizations for such relief. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
