Czech Radio's Vit Pohanka - Bam earthquake brought life into perspective

It's ten days now since the Iranian city of Bam was hit by a massive earthquake, causing widespread destruction and leaving an estimated 30,000 people dead. Czech Radio's Vit Pohanka arrived in Bam within hours of the disaster, and saw for himself the scenes of devastation. Rob Cameron has been speaking to him.

Czech Radio's Vit Pohanka - Bam earthquake brought life into perspective

Bam, photo: CTK

"Overall, what really surprised me was that you didn't see much damage or even any damage until you really got into the city. There, all of a sudden, the devastation was really - in some streets - complete, 100 percent. There was this feeling of shock - how could it be limited to such a small place. And, obviously, it was. The second impression was that you start seeing dead bodies. Even though you know you are going to see them, it's still a shock. But then you somehow become numb. You stop counting them, you stop realising that they are dead bodies."

Was this the first time you've covered an earthquake?

"Yes. I've seen dead bodies covering other things, but I've never ever seen such an amount of corpses, so many of them. I could observe myself and see what other people describe as a normal reaction. First there's shock, then you become numb, even psychologically. You don't react, which is a self-defence mechanism I think. It's only afterwards, when you come back, that you start realising what you've seen."

And you experience a kind of delayed shock.

Bam, photo: CTK

"Yes. It wasn't too traumatic, but when I watched the pictures afterwards on television all of a sudden you start feeling an urge to cry or something. That's how it was."

Tell me about the 14-man Czech rescue team in Bam.

"Without being falsely patriotic, I think they did a marvellous job. First of all, they did manage to get there really soon after the earthquake. They arrived on Saturday December 27th early in the morning at Kerman airport, 26-27 hours after the earthquake. At that time I saw only a British team there, I saw the Russians with their huge Ruslan plane carrying heavy machinery, and I knew the Italians were in. But the Czechs were definitely among the first to arrive on the scene, and they were either among the first or even the first who started actually working."

What effect does covering an enormous disaster such as the Bam earthquake have on you personally do you think?

"I think first of all it made me think about how powerful nature can be, and how often we think of our little problems in various ways, and we forget that there can be such a thing as a disaster of this size. We've got science, we've got everything, and yet this is something that cannot be predicted, and can happen again. A few years ago we had a disaster here in Prague, the floods. And of course it was a disaster, a terrible disaster. But if you take that around 30 people died during two weeks of flooding, and in Bam at least 30,000 people died in just a few seconds, then it does give you a certain perspective."