New push to help quake survivors

Survivors are still being pulled out - but there may not be many more

Relief teams in southern Iran are concentrating on caring for those made homeless by last week's earthquake, as hopes fade of finding more survivors.

The bodies of 28,000 victims have been recovered - but more are thought to be buried under the rubble, many of them in the ancient mud-brick city of Bam.

With some rescuers pulling out, aid workers are now highlighting the plight of exposed survivors.

The six Gulf Cooperation Council states have promised $400m for reconstruction.

Aid workers say they are concentrating on providing shelter, food and heaters to the tens of thousands of survivors facing long, cold nights in the open.

A United Nations official warned that even a common cold could prove fatal to them.

Search and rescue teams are winding down Thomas Krimm German aid worker How you can help

"We are talking about the risk of a massive outbreak of all kinds of illnesses and diseases," Hamid Marashi of the UN children's fund Unicef told AFP news agency.

With fresh aftershocks rattling Bam on Monday, few people were willing to return to their damaged homes.

Both Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Mohammed Khatami visited the city to reassure its inhabitants.

Some 30,000 people were injured in the quake. Aid workers put the number of homeless at more than 100,000.

In a rare moment of hope on Monday, officials said a baby had been found alive in the arms of her dead mother.

EMERGENCY AID Aid agencies say disaster victims need at least: Shelter: 3.5 square metres Water: 7 litres/day Food: 2,100 kilocalories/day Guide: Humanitarian basics

Rescuers said the six-month-old girl had been saved by her mother's embrace from falling debris.

Earlier on Monday, a 12-year-old girl was rescued with a broken leg from the rubble of a house. She had apparently been saved because the roof had not totally collapsed, allowing her some air.

Only 2,000 people have been found alive and many international rescue teams have given up hope of finding any more survivors, more than three days after the quake.

Bricks used in buildings in Bam are generally made out of baked mud which turns to dust and sand when buildings collapse - limiting the possibility of air pockets in the rubble.

"The first phase is over," said Thomas Krimm of the German relief organisation THW.

"That means the search and rescue teams are winding down."

Meanwhile Iran and foreign relief teams are continuing to work around the clock.

About 1,400 workers from almost 30 countries have converged on Bam, the UN official coordinating relief operations said.

Pledges

Dozens of aid planes have landed in Bam and Kerman, the provincial capital 190 kilometres away (120 miles).

If the city was modernised the dead could be 100 or less Kaviani, Vancouver, Canada Tell us your experiences Pictures of the earthquake

These include eight cargo planes from the United States, which has tense relations with Iran.

In the latest international pledge, the Gulf Co-operation Council has agreed to send $400m to help with reconstruction project.

Several council member states have already sent planeloads of aid.

Police reinforcements are said to have been deployed to stem looting - sometimes by armed men in vans stealing tents and blankets.

During his visit to Bam on Monday, Ayatollah Khamenei said: "We share your pain, we have lost our own children."

"We will rebuild Bam stronger than before," he said.

WORST QUAKE SINCE 1990 21 June 1990: 40,000 killed in Gilan, Iran 7 December 1988: 25,000 killed in north-west Armenia 28 July 1976: 500,000 killed in Tangshan, China Tough questions Earthquake timeline

President Mohammad Khatami also reviewed the rescue work and the damage.

"Whatever we do, it will still be too little," he said. "Hopefully, as time goes by more aid will arrive."

President Khatami is to convene a government meeting in the regional capital on Tuesday, having brought his whole government to the affected area.

Bam with its 2,000-year-old historic citadel was a major Iranian tourist attraction. Now much of that heritage has been reduced to rubble and dust.

Friday's quake is thought to be the deadliest the world has seen since 1990 when an earthquake, also in Iran, claimed 40,000 lives.