Riots over relief aid shake quake-hit Iranian city: report

Sat Mar 6, 6:37 AM ET

TEHRAN (AFP) - Residents of the quake-hit city of Bam in southeast Iran rioted in anger at continuing difficult living conditions more than two months after the massive tremor, a press report said.

They burned cars and destroyed containers after a demonstration on Thursday degenerated into violence, the reformist daily Shargh reported.

It quoted provincial authorities as saying that agitators on motorbikes incited the demonstrators, prompting police to intervene during the night.

The authorities said there were no casualties, but the Fars news agency quoted Bam's Friday prayer leader, Asghar Asgari, as saying that two people were wounded by bullets fired in the crowd.

Shargh said the demonstrators, who numbered 500 at one point, protested at the indifference of the authorities, saying promises of officials had not been kept while they continued to live in tents and with inadequate sanitation.

The provincial governor's office accused the media of exaggerating the extent of international aid, leading the residents to believe that reconstruction would be easy.

The historic city of Bam and its region were devastated on December 26 by the worst earthquake in more than a quarter of a century, which killed some 43,000 people.