Rescue workers pulled three more survivors from the rubble of Bam's devastating earthquake - including a man saved yesterday from a flattened house - as relief crews restored some electricity and rushed more aid into the ruined ancient city.
An official said the death toll would top 30,000 but that it would not reach 40,000.
Although hopes for survivors were fading, workers said they had rescued a 40-year-old man from the remains of a home yesterday. The man was conscious enough to open his eyes from time to time before being taken to hospital.
Earlier, Iranian television said another survivor, 27-year-old Yadallah Saadatmand, was pulled from the rubble the previous night with only a broken pelvis.
Television footage showed smiling nurses in the ambulance with Saadatmand, who was wearing an oxygen mask and did not speak.
Medical workers reported more good news amid the gloom as five babies were born since Tuesday - three boys delivered in a French field hospital and two girls delivered in a Ukrainian field hospital.
Aftershocks have rumbled Bam repeatedly since the quake - with two to three a day - and remain a "real danger" because the ruins could easily topple over, said Mr Ted Pearn, senior UN relief worker in Bam.
Iranian authorities have begun registering people and issuing food ration cards, while aid workers have begun restoring electricity to parts of Bam. Street lights are now working on main thoroughfares.
Iran's orphanages are rapidly filling as aid workers sort the living from the dead and deliver young survivors to the provincial capital of Kerman, 120 miles northwest of the destroyed ancient city of Bam. An estimated 1,500 children have been recovered without family so far and are being held at orphanages.
The chairman of the Irish Red Cross, Mr David Andrews, yesterday thanked the Irish public for their overwhelming response to the Irish Red Cross Appeal for donations following the earthquake in Iran.
Speaking after a meeting with the Iranian Ambassador to Ireland, Mr Hossein Mirfakhar, Mr Andrews said he was very pleased that so many Irish people were mindful of the suffering of the people of Bam at this time.
The Irish Red Cross is continuing to accept donations at its head office in 16 Merrion Square, Dublin 2, and by credit card online at www.redcross.ie and by phoning CallSave on 1850 50 70 70.