Woman rescued from Bam rubble
Iranian rescue workers have pulled a woman alive from the rubble in Bam, more than eight full days after an earthquake destroyed the city.
“She does not have a single scratch on her face,” said Red Crescent spokeswoman Masoumeh Malik on Saturday. “She can talk to us and answer our questions. When I ask her something she says ‘yes dear’.”
The woman, aged 97, was found in good condition despite the long odds of surviving so long after the quake.
Shahr-Banou Mazandarani was suffering from only superficial injuries, said the deputy head of the Red Crescent in Bam, Hessam-Edine Farokh-Yar.
She was located first by sniffer dogs on Saturday afternoon, more than eight days after the quake buried her under a building.
The woman survived thanks to the fact that she was under a piece of furniture, which formed an air pocket allowing her to breathe.
Rescue workers then spent three hours excavating her from the rubble. “She is now being treated in a Red Crescent centre and is in good condition,” Malik said.
The quake killed at least 30,000 people and destroyed about 90% of the buildings in the ancient city, 1000 km southeast of Tehran.
No survivors have been found alive in the devastated city since Thursday when three people were rescued.
Experts have said it is extremely unlikely to survive even beyond three days without food or water in such conditions.