“The (Islamic Revolutionary Gaurd Corps (IRGC) has offered to rent out a tent to the earthquake-stricken people in Qotur (part of West Azerbaijan Province of Iran), asking the villagers to pay 35 thousand tomans a night if they need to hire a tent”, an informed source told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN).
“In some villages, no assistance has been received from the Red Crescent and other government agencies so far. We know that the Red Crescent has delivered 400 tents and 300 tents to the municipality and another entity respectively, but these institutions have not yet provided any tents to the earthquake victims. “, another source in Qotur has told KHRN.
A large number of civilians have held a protest rally in front of the Qotur sheriffdom. According to one of the civilians, law enforcement officers register the details of the victims every day but no assistance has been offered to the victims yet.
“People in the countryside have used nylon to shelter themselves from the sub-zero cold but this situation is unbearable for elderly and children whose lives are currently in serious risk,” he said.
Meanwhile, the villagers are in serious financial difficulty in earthquake-stricken areas due to the loss of their livestock. Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN ) earlier released a report regarding the negligence of the governmental agencies to help the earthquake victims while mentioning that the affected people were currently in urgent need of food in addition to sanitation and heating facilities.
On the morning of January 23, a 5.7-magnitude earthquake hit Qotur region in West Azerbaijan Province in 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.