Relief ops complete, rebuilding begins in quake-hit Bushehr Province: Governor

The governor of Iran’s Bushehr Province says reconstruction operations have begun in the areas of the province that were hardest hit by the recent earthquake, as immediate relief efforts are completed.

Fereydoun Hassanvand said on Wednesday that with the completion of relief and rescue operations in the quake-stricken areas, efforts to repair and rebuild water, power and communications networks in the affected districts of Shanbeh and Tasouj have already gotten underway.

The governor added that according to a plan, each governor and chief executive had assumed responsibility for dealing with problems in villages within their jurisdictions.

Hassanvand also stated that the latest figures following the 6.1-magnitude earthquake showed that 37 have been killed and 850 injured.

The official said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s first deputy was scheduled to visit Bushehr Province later on Wednesday on behalf of cabinet ministers in a bid to address the needs and difficulties of affected residents in the quake-hit areas.

Hassanvand noted that relief and medical resources such as ambulances, medical equipment, relief forces and tent hospitals had been deployed to the affected zones.

According to the Iranian Seismological Center, the powerful quake hit the town of Kaki, some 90 kilometers southeast of the provincial capital, Bushehr, at 4:22 p.m. local time (1152 GMT) on Tuesday at a depth of 12 kilometers.

Following the earthquake, Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed People Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei offered condolences and called on provincial officials to “do their utmost” to save as many lives as possible and to provide enough support to the survivors of the quake.

The strong quake was followed by at least four aftershocks, which jolted Kaki and the nearby city of Khour-Mowj.

The Persian Gulf Arab states of Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have also felt the shocks from the quake.