News Detail
Earthquakes kill 153 people in Iran
DUBAI: Two strong earthquakes struck northwest Iran on Saturday, killing 153 people and injuring more than 1,300 as buildings were reduced to rubble, Iranian officials said.
Thousands fled their homes and remained outdoors as at least 20 aftershocks hit the area.
Casualty numbers could well rise, Iranian officials feared, as some of the injured are in a critical condition, others are still trapped under the rubble and rescuers have yet to reach some of the affected villages.
Iran is straddled by major fault lines and has suffered several devastating earthquakes in recent years, including a 6.6 magnitude quake in 2003 which turned the southeastern historic city of Bam into dust and killed more than 25,000 people.
The U.S. Geological Survey measured Saturday's first quake at 6.4 magnitude and said it struck 60 km (37 miles) northeast of the city of Tabriz at a depth of 9.9 km (6.2 miles). A second quake measuring 6.3 struck 49 km (30 miles) northeast of Tabriz 11 minutes later at a similar depth.
Deputy Interior Minister Hassan Ghadami said 153 people had been killed and provincial official Khalil Sa'ie said some 1,300 had been injured, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
The second quake struck near the town of Varzaghan. "The quake was so intense that people poured into the streets through fear," Fars news agency said of the town.
About 210 people in Varzaghan and Ahar have been rescued from under the rubble of collapsed buildings, the official IRNA news agency said, quoting a local official.
"So far 73 bodies from Varzaghan and Ahar have been handed over to the coroner's office," IRNA quoted Bahram Samadirad, a provincial official from the office, as saying.
He added, "Since some people are in a critical condition and rescue workers are still trying to rescue people from under the rubble, unfortunately it is possible for the number of casualties to rise."
Photographs posted by Iranian news websites showed about a dozen bodies lying on the floor in the corner of a white-tiled morgue in Ahar, and medical staff, surrounded by anxious residents, working on the injured in the open air as dusk fell.
"I was just on the phone talking to my mother when she said 'there's just been an earthquake', then the line was cut," one woman from Tabriz, who lives outside Iran, wrote on Facebook after telephoning her mother in the city.
"God, what has happened? After that I couldn't get through. God has also given me a slap, and it was very hard."
Tabriz is a major city and trading hub far from Iran's oil producing areas and known nuclear facilities. Buildings in the city are substantially built, and the Iranian Students' News Agency said nobody in the city itself had been killed or hurt.
Homes and businesses in Iranian villages, however, are often made of concrete blocks or mud brick that can crumble and collapse in a strong quake.
Fars quoted lawmaker Abbas Falahi as saying he believed rescue workers had not yet been able to reach between 10 and 20 villages.
A local provincial official urged people in the region to stay outdoors during the night for fear of aftershocks, according to IRNA. Falahi said people in the region were in need of bread, tents and drinking water.
The Turkish Red Crescent said it was sending a truck full of emergency supplies to the border, an official said.--(Reuters)
World
-
At least 2 dead, scores hurt by Boston Marathon blasts
BOSTON: At least two people died and scores were injured Monday after two blasts ripped through the crowd near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Multiple media reports indicated a person of interest was being held READ MORE
-
45 dead as twin blasts rock Pakistan’s commercial hub
KABUL: At least 45 people were killed and over 135 others wounded as twin explosions rocked Pakistan’s port city of Karachi o Sunday evening. The powerful blasts occurred outside a mosque in Abbas Town. Flats in the v READ MORE
-
Reporter gunned down in Balochistan
KABUL: A senior Pakistani journalist was gunned down in Pakistan’s troubled southwestern province of Balochistan on Friday evening. Mehmood Jan Afridi was shot dead by unidentified assailants on a motorbike near a bus READ MORE
-
Not anti-religion but pro-justice: Bangladesh protesters
DHAKA: Continuing their demonstrations for the 23rd day on Wednesday, the Shahbag Projomno Chottor protesters reaffirmed that they were not against religion but were for justice.They strongly condemned the radical forces READ MORE
-
New US defense secretary sworn in
WASHINGTON: Decorated Vietnam War veteran, Chuck Hagel, was sworn in as new US defense secretary on Wednesday morning, replacing Leon Panetta. Hagel, 66, was administered oath by Defense Department Director of Administr READ MORE
-
Journalist gunned down in Waziristan
KABUL: A journalist was shot dead in Pakistan’s restive northwestern tribal region of Waziristan on Wednesday afternoon, his former colleague said. Malik Mumtaz, who worked for a couple of private TV channels, was gun READ MORE
-
US labels Pak-based Mullah Nazir's militant group 'Global Te
WASHINGTON: The US State Department has designated the Commander Nazir Group and its leader Malang Wazir as 'Specially Designated Global Terrorists'. In a statement, the State Department said the Nazir Group has run tra READ MORE
-
No intention to create another Afghanistan: Russia
KABUL: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said his country had no intention of deploying its military to the Middle East or North Africa to fight for its positions and create "another Afghanistan." "This is my READ MORE
-
Fazl in Qatar to attend Afghan peace talks: Aide
KABUL: A senior Pakistani politician and religious leader, Maulana Fazl Rehman, is in Qatar to facilitate talks between US and Afghan officials and Afghan Taliban emissaries, an aide said a day earlier. Fazl, the chief READ MORE
-
Keep chasing released Taliban, UK asks Pakistan
KABUL: UK Ambassador to Afghanistan Richard Stagg has urged Pakistan to keep chasing Afghan Taliban prisoners after their releases from the country's jails in order to address Afghanistan's concerns over their possible r READ MORE
-
Suicide bombing ‘haram’, Pashtuns the worst victim of wa
KABUL: The Chief of Jamait-e-Islam Pakistan (F), Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, in an interview to Voice of America claimed that his party has taken fatwa (religious ruling) from more or less 25 thousands religious scholars and READ MORE
-
Pakistani Taliban offer conditional truce
KABUL: Pakistani Taliban on Sunday said they would seek from security forces guarantee of the country’s three top political and religious leaders for their proposed talks with the government. "Taliban have offered dia READ MORE
-
Top court orders Pakistan PM’s arrest
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the arrest of Pakistan Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on the charge of receiving kickbacks from rental power projects in the energy-deficient country. A three-member b READ MORE
-
6 security personnel dead in Khyber attacks
KABUL: Six security personnel were killed and 28 others wounded in a series of militant attacks on checkpoints in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber tribal region near the Afghanistan border on Tuesday. The near-simultan READ MORE
-
Congressman calls for rethink on drone strikes
KABUL: In order to minimise collateral damage, an American congressman has called for the Obama administration to rethink its strategy on drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal badlands near the Afghanistan border. Keith READ MORE
-
Dane’s life as an undercover spy agent inside al-Qaeda
COPENHAGEN: After converting to Islam, a former member of a Danish motorcycle gang travels to Yemen to study the Quran and soon comes in contact with radical preachers waging holy war against the West. On the verge of b READ MORE
-
Moroccan dancer, Ruby, to testify Monday in Berlusconi sex t
MILAN: The nightclub dancer who is the main witness in the sex trial of Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is to testify on Monday, her lawyer said on Saturday. Karima el-Mahroug, a Moroccan who is now 20 a READ MORE
-
Lean and mean? Arab belly dancers ignore politics at Israeli
While Arab politicians might avoid visiting Israel at any cost given its hostile status and disputes over the still unresolved occupation of Palestinian land; Arab belly-dancer are reportedly having a much leaner approac READ MORE
-
Obama reminded of promise to close Gitmo
WASHINGTON: Human rights activists and civil society members on Friday staged rallies in various cities of the United States to protest the Obama administration’s failure to close the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba. Hu READ MORE
-
Hagel may replace Panetta as defence secretary
KABUL: US President Barack Obama is expected to set nominate Chuck Hagel -- a Vietnam War veteran -- as his next defense secretary, replacing Leon Panetta, media reports said on Monday. The White House informed the Hag READ MORE
Clippings
Iran and blame the victim game
Tehran is continuously interfering in Afghanistan and pressurizing Kabul under one pretext or the other. Iran’s meddling into our internal affairs while giving it name of concern as Tehran did it recently when its ambassa...
