Woman helps reunite quake survivors

Christin Nazari will be helping in Iran for three weeks

A woman from East Sussex is flying out to Iran to help reunite survivors of the Bam earthquake with their friends and families.

Red cross worker Christin Nazari, from Brighton, will stay in the devastated town that was flattened by the quake on Boxing Day, for three weeks.

More than 30,000 people were killed in the disaster which destroyed the ancient city of Bam and resulted in a massive aid mission to help survivors.

Miss Nazari, 31, traces and contacts people for the Red Cross in London and will use her expertise to show other aid workers how they can help children find their parents and wounded people find relatives.

The Iranian-born caseworker who flies to Tehran on Friday at 2100 GMT has said she is pleased she can do some good for the people of Bam.

I feel hopeful about the whole operation and if I can be of help out there it will be great as there are so many people who really need some assistance Christin Nazari

Miss Nazari told BBC News Online: "I am quite nervous about going out there but excited as well.

"I feel hopeful about the whole operation and if I can be of help out there it will be great as there are so many people who really need some assistance.

"It is quite a massive task. There are three organisations already helping to reunite people and I will be helping them to co-ordinate the operation, to see how far they have got and how we can help them progress."

She will be working with about 1,700 volunteers and Red Crescent staff in mobile tracing units which are equipped with satellite phones.

The trip will also take Miss Nazari back to her birthplace as she was born in Tehran.

She left the country when she was seven years old and has not been back since.

She said: "The last time I was there was in 1980 so it will be quite interesting flying back over there and seeing how it has changed.

"I can speak Farsi so it will be a help to be able to speak to people in their own language."