Official says Bam airport has handled 500 flights so far
Bam, Dec 27, IRNA -- At least 500 flights have been carried out from and to the Bam airport since the quake disaster took place at dawn on Friday, managing director of Kerman province's airports Mohsen Esmaili said on Saturday.

Esmaili said that the about 10,000 patients have been airlifted from Bam to other cities.

He said that the patients are currently being airlifted to Shiraz, Mashhad, Tehran and Bandar Abbas. Meanwhile, three Turkish airplanes carrying relief aid landed at Bam airport.

He said that airplanes from Turkey, Switzerland, Germany, Britain, and Italy have also landed at Bam airport.

Foreign rescue teams with sniffer dogs have also been engaged in a race against the clock to help those still trapped under rubble.

Airplanes, helicopters airlifting patients to hospitals
Tehran, Dec 27, IRNA -- Nine helicopters of the Defense Ministry are involved in carrying those injured in Bam quake from Mehrabad airport to hospitals in Tehran.

The airplanes are airlifting the patients from Bam to Mehrabad airport and the helicopters have undertaken to transfer them to the hospitals of Tehran.

Since there are traffic jam in streets leading to Tehran airport due to crowd of the people gathering at the airport to go to Bam and movement of ambulances was difficult to take the patients to the hospitals, the helicopters are doing the job.

Airlifting the patients to Tehran has been satisfactory and the hospitals in Tehran and other cities have been mobilized to give emergency relief aid to the quake-stricken people.

5 injured European tourists hospitalized at Milad hospital

Tehran, Dec 27, IRNA -- Five Europeans, injured in the disaster earthquake in Bam in the southeastern province of Kerman on Friday, have been hospitalized in Iran's semi-private 'Milad' hospital.

The victims include three Germans, namely Michael Rankel, David Tumer and Ivan Stephen, a British woman Ruth Melington and a Swiss tourist Andre Fahrni, who had pedalled to the historical city of Bam on a leg of his six-month round-the-globe journey.

Acting Head of Milad Hospital Mohsen Khalili told IRNA that the injured European tourists are now in good conditions.

Khalili said the injured Europeans are predicted to receive full recovery in the next one or two days and be discharged from the hospital.

The official added that 110 other people injured in the quake had also been received by Milad hospital.