Death toll in Pakistan quake reaches 359

Islamabad  : The death toll in Pakistan’s magnitude-7.7 earthquake which struck Balochistan province Tuesday reached 359 Friday, with media reports from the country suggesting it could further rise.

“The numbers confirmed are 359 dead and 755 injured. That is what we know for sure,” provincial government spokesman Jan Mohamed Buledi said.

“Most of the affected areas have already received assistance, but there are some very remote areas that we haven’t been able to reach,” he said while declining to comment on media accounts about hundreds of deaths not yet counted.

Although the tremors of the earthquake were felt across Balochistan province, the worst affected districts are Awaran and Kech, which is why the highest number of casualties have occurred in these two districts.

The temblor mainly affected six districts in the southern part of Balochistan with the epicentre most close to Awaran, a district located at 27.09 degrees north latitude and 65. 61 degrees east longitude.