28 December 2003

Geneva: Members of a field assessment team from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have arrived in the Iranian city of Bam, which was devastated by an earthquake on 26 December.

The team will support the vital relief work being carried out by the Iranian Red Crescent and evaluate the immediate and longer-term needs of the population. Based on this assessment, the Federation will amend the preliminary appeal for 15.4 million Swiss francs (US$ 12.3 million) it issued on the day of the disaster.

The assessment team will be joined by specially-trained Emergency Response Units (ERU) from national Red Cross Societies, with expertise in logistics, water and sanitation and health care.

The first ERU, a logistics team from the British and Danish Red Cross Societies, will arrive in Bam in the coming hours. They will be closely followed by a field hospital, staffed by doctors and nurses from the Norwegian, Finnish and German Red Cross Societies, and water and sanitation ERUs from the Austrian, Swedish, French and Spanish Red Cross Societies. Other National Societies are also sending personnel and relief goods to the disaster area.

In addition, the Federation is sending large quantities of urgently-needed relief items: 20,000 family tents, 30,000 plastic sheets, 200,000 blankets, 40,000 kitchen sets; 400,000 water purification tablets; 30 electricity generators and 20,000 kerosene heaters.

"The immediate priorities are shelter and water. We also need to guarantee the health of this vulnerable population," said Martin Zak, who is coordinating the Federation's operation for Bam.

"The Iranian Red Crescent was the first humanitarian actor on the scene. And, as part of the community, it will remain. The various components of the Red Cross Red Crescent family have shown a tremendous solidarity and commitment to offer assistance to the population of Bam not just in the coming days, but also during the recovery and rehabilitation phases," Zak added.

The Federation, the national Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the International Committee of the Red Cross together constitute the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.