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Pakistani troops aid in Iranian earthquake rescue

 

Andrew Buncombe
Wednesday 17 April 2013 18:34 BST
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Members of Pakistan’s armed forces, including doctors and engineers, have been sent to remote areas in the south-west of the country to help evacuate the injured following the quake across the border in Iran.

Hundreds of troops joined rescue efforts amid conflicting reports as to how many people may have been killed and hurt. As they did so they were jolted by a strong 5.7 magnitude aftershock.

On Tuesday, it was reported that at least 34 people had died in Pakistan as a result of the damage caused by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck near Saravan in Iran.

But according to the Associated Press, the head of Pakistan’s paramilitary Frontier Corps in Baluchistan told reporters that the death toll may have been as low as 10 to 12. He said that a further 30 people had been injured; 16 of the most seriously hurt were evacuated by helicopter.

Iran’s Press TV initially said that 40 had been killed in the country and some raised fears that hundreds could lose their lives. But Iran’s main state TV channel said that only one person had been killed – a woman struck by falling rocks while she was collecting herbs.

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