(24 Feb 2005)
++NIGHTSHOTS++
1. Police inspect cars outside Hotkan village to prevent any possible looting
2. Basij forces inspecting a van
3. One of the Basij forces inspecting a car
4. Tents south of Hotkan village
5. Man praying inside tent
6. Earthquake survivor Mahmoud (lost many relatives in earthquake) enters tent
7. Muddy shoes inside the tent
8. SOUNDBITE (Farsi): Mahmoud, earthquake survivor:
"When I arrived at the village, I saw everywhere was ruined. First I went to find my father in law, but because of lots of injuries, he had passed away in the hospital. I saved my sister in law, and then I went to find my mother. She was unfortunately dead. Then I went to see my brother. He had eight family members; he lost all of his family members."
9. Roadside fire
10. Various of families huddled around fire
11. SOUNDBITE (Farsi): Zeinab, earthquake survivor:
"Children are very much afraid, that''s why they push us to come to sleep in streets at night. They say maybe another earthquake comes and we will all die under the rubble."
12. Families around fire
13. Ahmed, the only surviving member of his immediate family, crying over his dead brother at funeral
22. Body of Javad, Ahmed''s brother, and relatives beside him
23. Tilt-down from dome of shrine to people praying
24. Clergyman praying
25. Relatives place Javad''s body in grave
26. SOUNDBITE (Farsi): Kazem, Javad''s uncle:
"Last year two of my daughters who had just finished their studies in university died in the devastating Bam earthquake. I buried them right here beside the shrine of the saint of the village. This year two of my nieces have died in the earthquake and the rest of my relatives are now in hospitals and I don''t know where to find them. This is such a big sorrow and disaster for us. I don''t know how to explain it."
27. Javad''s grave and clergyman praying
28. SOUNDBITE (Farsi): Ahmed, Javad''s brother:
"I could not find my two brothers under the rubble. I saved the rest of the relatives who were still alive but my two brothers died under the rubble. There were three brothers and I was the eldest one. After me, it was Javad and after him it was Iman. We were three brothers and now two of us have died."
36. Javad''s grave
37. Wide shot of relatives of Javad beside his grave
STORYLINE
The death toll from Tuesday''s earthquake in Hotkan, Iran has risen to 500.
On Wednesday, grieving relatives buried their loved ones, while police searched motorists to prevent possible looters profiting from the tragedy.
Many survivors of the magnitude-6.4 quake are now being housed in makeshift tent villages south of Hotkan.
Some of those whose houses were not destroyed chose to spend Tuesday night huddled around roadside fires.
One of the survivors, Zeinab, said many children are too scared to sleep indoors.
"They say maybe another earthquake will come and we will all die under the rubble," she said.
The monumental task of burying the dead has already begun.
Ahmed, who lost both of his brothers in the quake, buried one of them - Javad - early on Wednesday.
"I could not find my two brothers under the rubble. I saved the rest of the relatives who were still alive but my two brothers died under the rubble," he said.
Kazem, Javad''s uncle, had already lost two daughters in the December 2003 quake that struck the nearby village of Bam, killing 26-thousand people.
"This is such a big sorrow and disaster for us. I don''t know how to explain it," he said.
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