Temperatures have plunged close to freezing in the western region of Iran affected by a 7.3-magnitude quake as many homeless survivors are forced to camp out for a second straight night.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani visited the worst-hit city of Sarpol-e Zahab on Tuesday and vowed to build 30,000 houses for survivors. But it remains unclear how the government will grapple with providing temporary shelter for the 70,000 displaced.
Rouhani said an estimated 11,000 homes in rural areas and 4,500 in cities have been destroyed.
Al Jazeera reported that more than 450 people have been killed and 7,000 others injured in Iran’s Kermanshah province following the earthquake on Sunday. Across the border in Iraq, at least seven people were killed and 300 injured.
Many survivors have either lost their houses or were too afraid to return to their damaged dwellings because of aftershocks, choosing to camp out despite the cool weather.
Since Sunday, more than 230 aftershocks have been recorded in Kermanshah, Tasnim News Agency reported.
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