This Canon EOS 5 camera belonged to Mr André Fahrni, a Swiss tourist, who had pedalled to the historical Iranian city of Bam on a leg of his six-month round-the-globe journey in December 2003. He was one of the five Europeans, injured in the 6.6-magnitude disaster earthquake in Bam on December 26, 2003 at 5:26 AM local time. Some 80% of the 2000 years old city was destroyed. The total death toll was given as 41,000. An additional 30,000 were reported injured and up to 75,000 left homeless. The high death toll occurred because very few people who were trapped when their mud-brick homes collapsed managed to survive. Mr Fahrni had stored his camera equipment under the bed when the quake disaster took place at dawn and destroyed the hotel. He was dug from rubble by rescue workers and he said that he was lucky to escape death as his hotel collapsed around him.
I met Mr Fahrni in Berne in early 2004 and could help him getting off the lens from the camera wreck. The lens was not damaged but the lens locking mechanism of the camera bayonet was blocked.