IRAN: Iran's Red Crescent has revised down the number of dead in a powerful earthquake in northern Iran to 222 from an earlier estimate of 500 as rescuers picked through rubble to find survivors.
"There was a mistake, the previous number was the number of dead and injured together," state television reported Red Crescent official Mr Majid Shalviri as saying.
Emergency services tried to cope with hundreds of injured and other survivors of the quake, which measured 6.3 on the Richter scale, and took steps to prevent disease spreading.
The quake, which struck early on Saturday, razing dozens of villages in north Iran's Qazvin province, killed many women, children and elderly people in their homes while men were working in the fields and vineyards.
US President George Bush, who said he was saddened by news of the earthquake, extended an offer of humanitarian aid to Iran, reaching out to a country his administration has branded part of an "axis of evil".
"Human suffering knows no political boundaries," Mr Bush said. "We stand ready to assist the people of Iran as needed and as desired."
But Iran's interior minister stopped short of accepting the offer and instead said Tehran would accept humanitarian aid from US non-governmental organisations.
"We are ready to accept all aid from NGOs," Interior Minister Mr Abdolvahed Mousavi-Lari said in response to a question on whether he would accept Mr Bush's offer.
Deputy Interior Minister Mr Mohammadhossein Moqimi said Tehran would welcome assistance from the American people. "The American nation are a kind nation and we welcome any help which comes from them," he said.
Red Crescent officials said 5,000 houses had been destroyed and 25,000 people made homeless, with at least four strong aftershocks inflicting more damage.
At least 1,500 people were injured, the heaviest casualties close to the epicentre at Avaj, a mountain town of 3,600 people 130 miles west of Tehran.
Villagers in Esmailabad, six miles north of Avaj, recovered 38 bodies on Saturday - one in nine of the population - and sifted through ruins to look for more of the missing among wooden roof timbers jutting into the air.
The head of Iran's Red Crescent said relief workers, food, more than 1,000 tents, 2,500 blankets and mobile kitchens had been dispatched to the stricken area. Extra ambulances had been sent, while the army was supplying water trucks.
Pope John Paul called on the international community to rush to Iran's aid. "I urge on the work of rescuers, and hope that there will be a prompt and generous response internationally to this terrible situation," he said.
The United Nations said it had sent a team to the area and the United States offered food and medical supplies to Iran, which is subject to stiff US sanctions.
Washington has alleged that Iran was developing nuclear weapons and sheltering al-Qaeda fighters who fled Afghanistan.
The US blames al-Qaeda for the hijacked airliner attacks on New York and Washington on September 11th.
Health workers sprayed villages with disinfectant to try to halt the spread of disease as daytime temperatures exceeded 30 degrees Celsius. People were also being vaccinated for tetanus, an official said.
"We need a pre-fabricated hospital here even with the very minimum facilities because the people taken out of the debris suffer from respiratory problems," the Hamshahri newspaper quoted one rescue team member as saying. - (Reuters)