More Iran quake survivors found - days after officials called a halt to rescue operations.

Two people on Tuesday were pulled alive from the rubble of weekend quakes that destroyed villages in Iran's northwest, state media reported - days after officials called a halt to rescue operations.

The two were plucked from the smashed remains of their home after being detected by search dogs, IRIB state television and the official IRNA news agency reported, citing regional emergency service workers.

IRNA said the pair, both in good health, were saved in a village near the town of Varzaqan, northeast of the city of Tabriz.

The hamlet was one of hundreds decimated by Saturday's twin quakes measuring 6.4 and 6.3 on the moment magnitude scale that killed 306 people and injured 3000 others, according to an official toll.

The pair were rescued two days after Iranian Interior Minister Moustafa Mohammad-Najjar and his aide in charge of disaster management, Hossein Ghadami, declared a halt to rescue operations.

The officials had said there were no more survivors to be found.

Separately, the Fars news agency reported that an unspecified number of bodies were recovered on Tuesday, including that of a 27-year-old woman in the village.

Some officials and members of the Iranian public have criticised the official reaction to the earthquake, while others praised the rapid response of emergency services.

Iran's Red Crescent notably said it had refused offers of help from countries including Germany, Armenia, Turkey and Taiwan.

But Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi contradicted that on Monday by saying that, "under the current circumstances, (Iran) is now prepared to accept help from other countries for quake victims," IRNA reported.

The United States said it had also offered assistance but had received no reply from Iran, with which it has no direct diplomatic ties.

Tuesday 14 August 2012.

http://news.iafrica.com/worldnews/811007.html

Sudanese authorities on high-alert after floods “killed 32 people”

The Sudanese ministry of interior has declared a state of national emergency in order to confront a wave of floods that already led to the death of 32 people and displacement of thousands, according to official figures.

The minister of interior, Ibrahim Hamid, revealed while addressing the national council for civil defense in the capital Khartoum on Saturday that floods caused by heavy rainfall in different parts of the country have so far led to the death of 32 people, 35332 animals, injury of 35 people, total destruction of 4722 houses, partial destruction of 10317 houses, 854 public facilities and172 warehouses. He also revealed that 15 villages along Atbara River had been destroyed by the rains.

Mahmoud said his ministry was declaring a state of national emergency to move the affected populations to safe areas and provide them with food and health assistance.

Furthmore, local authorities in the eastern state of Kasalla announced on Sunday said that 35,000 people had been displaced after floods destroyed more than 3300 houses. The government of Kasalla appealed for assistance to help more than 10,000 families affected by the floods.

Kasalla’s deputy governor, Magzoub Abu Musa, told the Sudanese Media Center (SMC) that the health situation in the affected villages was stable but there is a need for more health and sanitation assistance. He added that the authorities are trying to contain health conditions through allocation of health teams to every village and provision of drinking water and shelters.

However, he admitted that the scale of the crisis is bigger than the state’s capabilities, urging the federal government and philanthropists to aid the affected village.

The UN also confirmed on Sunday that more than a 1000 families were affected by the floods in eastern Sudan. Likewise, in the western region of Darfur, the UNHCR said that no less than 14,000 people have been affected by the floods.

Meanwhile, weather-forecasting authorities have warned that the situation is set to get worse in light of indications that the rates of rainfall are estimated to increase towards mid-August.

According to Abdullah Khiar, the head of the weather forecast corporation, current readings show that mid-August will witness rates of rainfall exceeding those witnessed in the last thirty years.

Heavy rains already drove the levels of the Nile River to unprecedented levels, the ministry of water resources announced on Sunday, warning citizens to take the necessary precautions to save lives and properties.

Monday 13 August 2012

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article43559

Nigeria: Scores Missing, 28 Killed As Floods Ravage Plateau Again

No fewer than 28 persons have been killed, while scores of others are still missing in a renewed flood rage in nearly all the villages of the southern zone of Plateau State at the weekend.

More corpses are still been picked in villages around the affected areas.

Also about a hundred communities and over a thousand houses are said to have been affected by the flooding.

Also, hundreds of houses and bridges linking the area with Lafia, capital of Nasarawa State and Taraba state were summarily sweep away by the flood waters.

A residence of Langtang, an affected area, Mr Nandom said "iced blocks were literarily falling on their roofs all through early hours of Sunday," before their homes and farmlands were washed away.

The transition committee chairman of Shendam Local Government, an affected area, Kemi Nshe told Newsmen that two hundred hectares of farm land was also washed away by the flooding in his local government council alone.

Muslims in the state this time have extended invitation to their Christian counterparts to join them at the Central Mosque to feast during the sallah, as a mark of reconciliation.

Tuesday 14 August 2012

http://allafrica.com/stories/201208131343.html