Heavy rain and snow has hampered the emergency effort in the southeastern Iranian areas affected by the country's recent earthquake, state media reported Wednesday. Speaking on the television news network Khabar, Interior Minister Abdolvahed Mussavi-Lari said: "Fortunately the rescue teams could reach the quake area soon after the quake but the rain and snow slowed down the speed of efforts by the rescue and relief teams." Relief efforts intensified Wednesday in southeastern Iran following the 6.4-magnitude earthquake occurred at 0225 GMT Tuesday, leaving at least 420 people dead and more than 1,000 injured. The Iranian army provided helicopters for relief operations and transport planes were dispatched to fly in needed supplies. Kerman Province governor, Mohammad-Ali Karimi, told the state radio Wednesday that most of the affected villages had received tents, blankets and food but there were still a few inaccessible mountain areas that had not yet been helped due to poor weather conditions. Iranian Red Crescent members have been moving people to nearby cities in the Kerman province. Mosques, tents and vehicles turned to a temporary home to many survivors last night but some victims of the disaster spent the cold winter night in the open, the reports said. The epicenter of the quake was in Kerman province, near the city of Zarand - 740 kilometers from the capital Tehran - which has 130,000 residents. Interior Ministry officials said about 40 villages were damaged in the range of 20 to 100 per cent. Kerman province was rocked December 2003 by a powerful earthquake that claimed upwards of 30,000 lives and flattened the ancient city of Bam.
