In an interview with the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN), a civil activist has reported the situation in Qotur, West Azerbaijan Province as critical while referring to the indifference of the government to provide relief to the earthquake victims.
On the morning of January 23, a 5.7-magnitude earthquake hit Qotur region in West Azerbaijan Province at the northwest of Iran. The earthquake resulted in the injury of more than 100 civilians and destroyed many houses in Qotur and more than 40 surrounding villages.
“Government agencies came to earthquake affected areas several hours after the earthquake and transported the injured people to hospitals. They have not provided earthquake relief in the last two days.“ the civil activist said.
According to the above source, more than 3500 families have been affected by the earthquake. Some of the families have been able to go to Khoy, but the rest of the earthquake-stricken families have had no other choice but to remain in the area despite the freezing weather.
“In the last two days, several convoys of popular relief supplies including some tents and blankets have been sent to the area, but these reliefs are not sufficient for the earthquake-stricken victims,” he said.
He also referred to the civilians’ sincere concern over the disregard for government institutions while mentioning that the affected people were currently in urgent need of food in addition to sanitation and heating facilities.
“The area is among the most deprived areas in the province and people have remained in their ruined homes since they have no other shelter. They have lost hope in receiving governmental reliefs and they are relying on popular reliefs.”, he said.
