Red Cross hospital arrives in quake-hit Iran

GENEVA (AFP) Dec 30, 2003
A 150-bed field hospital of the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement arrived Tuesday in southeastern Iran along with German, Finnish and Norwegian medical personnel to assist those injured in the devastating earthquake there, the organisation said.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said in a statement the hospital, which can treat hundreds of patients a day, should be operational within one or two days.

The hospital, which includes an operating theater and two outpatient wards, would remain in place for at least four days.

It "is meant to provide health care services for the population of Bam, since the city's two hospitals were completely destroyed by the quake", the statement said.

An estimated 40,000 people have died and tens of thousands have been made homeless following the powerful earthquake that decimated the ancient city of Bam in southeastern Iran on Friday.

The international Red Cross on Saturday launched an appeal for 15.4 million Swiss Francs (9.9 million euros, 12.3 million dollars) to provide assistance to the injured and homeless from the quake.

TERRA.WIRE