7 Discovered Alive Under Rubble of Quake in Iran

MANJIL, Iran â€”  French and Iranian relief teams rescued at least seven people, including a mother and her 12-year-old son, who were buried for five days in the rubble from the earthquake in Iran, the official media said Wednesday.

In another development, field tribunals were being set up in Roudbar and Manjil to try “criminals who are abusing the situation� in the ravaged area, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported. IRNA appeared to be referring to looters and profiteers.

The agency also said that at least 50 aftershocks were recorded Tuesday night and Wednesday. More than 400 aftershocks have occurred since the quake struck.

A 19-year-old relief worker was killed during one of the shocks when a wall collapsed as he and other volunteers were trying to pull bodies from the debris of a building in Roudbar.

Bad weather hampered rescue efforts and was blamed for the crash of a relief helicopter with 14 people on board that hit a mountain in Gilan province. A Parliament deputy from Roudbar died, and six others were seriously injured.

Officials estimate that 50,000 people were killed and 200,000 injured in last Thursday’s temblor, recorded at a magnitude of between 7.3 to 7.7. About half a million people were left homeless.

The rescued mother and boy were found critically injured Tuesday in the village of Kelishom, 100 miles northwest of Tehran, IRNA said. Two other people were rescued in village of Vieh, IRNA said.

The agency also said that a man, a woman and a boy, members of a family, were rescued in the village of Jirandeh the same day.

A U.S.-financed planeload of relief supplies worth $470,000 was dispatched Wednesday from Basel, Switzerland, U.S. officials said. It was the second round of U.S. aid.