Caritas Aiding Victims of March Quake in Iran

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VATICAN CITY, JUNE 8, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Caritas Italy will move forward with plans to provide sanitary services for the victims of the March 31 earthquake in Iran's Lorestan province.



The quake killed 70 people and injured 1,200. It leveled about 70 villages, severely damaged about 260 others, and left 15,000 people homeless.

Vatican-based Caritas Internationalis, the Catholic confederation, has opened an appeal for $460,000 to help fund the project.

The epicenter of the quake was in Dasht Silakhor, about 400 kilometers (250 miles) southwest of Tehran.

Several U.N. agencies responded to the immediate needs of the victims, providing them with food, water, tents, blankets and medical assistance. The Iranian state also provided relief, and said that an international response in the immediate aftermath would not be necessary.

Caritas Italy, after consulting with the Iranian Ministry of the Interior, has been given permission to construct 400 temporary showers in the quake-damaged areas.

Meanwhile, Caritas-Indonesia continues its assistance to victims of the Java earthquake in liaison with Archbishop Ignatius Surharyo of Semarang and with the support of the whole Caritas international network.

The May 27 earthquake left more than 6,000 dead, 50,000 wounded and hundreds of thousands homeless.