Article: Return to the Silk Road citadel: exactly a year ago, the ancient Iranian city of Bam was hit by an earthquake so powerful that it took only 12 seconds to reduce it to rubble, killing 40,000 people. Four months after the event, Alexander Henriksen and Matjaz Krivic went to Bam to cover the progress of the reconstruction effort.(Bam Anniversary)

The old man covered his eyes with is hands. At first it seemed he as protecting himself from the dust blowing up from the rubble around him. But then he began to shake, his sobs audible above the surrounding noise. It was four months since an earthquake demolished Bam and killed more than 40,000 of its citizens, but Mahmoud Touhidi hadn't grown accustomed to the sight of the devastated citadel through which he once guided tourists. "The citadel and I were inseparable," he said. "I was here every day, even if I didn't have work to do. What are the people of Bam without the citadel? It was our pride, our identity. They must rebuild. They must!"

Touhidi's call for ...

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