Quake Survivors Still Being Found

Rescuers found a 12-year-old Iranian girl alive in the rubble of her family's house Monday, even as some searchers called off their efforts saying there could be no more survivors after last week's devastating earthquake.

Iran's supreme leader visited the quake-shattered ancient city of Bam and pledged to rebuild it, shortly after two aftershocks early Monday caused some of the few remaining walls to tumble.

More than 25,000 bodies have been retrieved since Friday's 6.6-magnitude earthquake shook the city and surrounding region in southeast Iran, according to provincial government spokesman Asadollah Iranmanesh.

That number was an increase from 21,000 reported earlier, and there were fears the number of dead could rise as high as 40,000. At least 10,000 people are believed wounded.

"Many, many more people remain buried under the rubble," Iranmanesh said.

Bricks used in buildings in Bam were generally made out of baked mud, which turns to dust and sand when buildings collapse. That left few air pockets in the rubble for survivors. The heavy roofs, often sealed with cement or plaster to keep out rain, also smashed down, crushing anyone inside.

Signs of the devastation are everywhere, reports CBS News Correspondent Lisa Barron. Nearly all of the buildings have been leveled; the doorframe is all that's left of many houses. Survivors are erecting tents donated by aid organizations. Others are still picking through the rubble of what they once called home.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed his condolences to hundreds of victims gathered in the street, vowing support and telling them he shared their grief for loved ones.

"All of us are responsible to meet the demands of the survivors," he said. "Aid should continue to come so that, God willing, the city of Bam is rebuilt better and this time stronger than before. We can build a strong and developed city out of this devastation."

The city was best known for having the world's largest medieval mud fortress. Most of the 2,000-year-old fortress crumbled when the quake hit.

Hopes of finding more survivors faded as sunrise Monday marked 72 hours since the quake hit, entombing thousands of sleeping residents in their homes. Experts say 72 hours is generally the longest people can live trapped in rubble.

Still, rescuers using an electronic search device found a girl in the rubble of a house soon after sunrise Monday, unconscious and with a broken leg, an Iranian relief worker said.

"The only reason she remained alive was because the roof had not totally collapsed," said Shokrollah Abbasi. "There was air for her to breathe. We found her in the kitchen. There was a plate of rice near her, and it appeared to me that the food had helped her remain alive."

He said the girl, whose name he did not know, appeared to be about 12 years old. The body of a woman and a boy were found in the same house.

Rescue workers from around the world have joined Iranians in searching for survivors.

"Even if the lengthy amount of time that has passed since the quake doesn't inspire optimism, we still haven't definitively abandoned hope of finding survivors," said Agostino Miozzo, head of the Italian civil protection corps and coordinator of the European aid response team in Bam.

Ted Pearn, coordinator of U.N. relief operations in Bam, said 1,400 international relief workers were in Bam, part of 35 teams from 26 countries.

"The major problem, of course, will be the people left here homeless," Hamid Marashi of UNICEF told Barron, adding that more drugs and clinics are urgently needed.

Planes from dozens of countries have landed in the provincial capital of Kerman with relief supplies, volunteers and dogs trained to find bodies and survivors.

U.S. military C-130 cargo planes were among them, despite Washington's long-severed diplomatic relations with Tehran and President Bush's characterization of Iran as part of an "axis of evil" with Iraq and North Korea.