Norway offered 7 million kroner (US$1 million) to Iran on Friday after a powerful earthquake in southeastern Iran killed more than 20,000 people.

Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik said in Oslo that the Norwegian government is ready to send more emergency humanitarian aid, including a field hospital, to help the Iranian victims in the quake-affected region, according to reports of the Norwegian News Agency.

The Red Cross in Sweden and Denmark also offered 1 million kronor (US$150,000) and 200,000 kroner (US$30,000) in aid to Iran, and teams of experts were flying there to help search and rescue those trapped under the debris.

More than 20,000 people were killed and 50,000 others injured when an earthquake measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale rocked the ancient city of Bam in southeastern Iran early Friday.
 
(Xinhua News Agency December 27, 2003)