'Quake death toll passes 1 000'

2005-10-10 12:19

Islamabad - The confirmed death toll in Saturday's massive earthquake, which rocked India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, has passed 1 000, officials said.

In Pakistan's North West Frontier Province alone, the toll was above 550, said Riffat Pasha, the provincial head of police.

"The death toll is between 550 and 600 in North West Frontier Province and it is likely to rise," he said.

Some 250 people were confirmed dead and thousands more injured in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, a government official said.

"There is massive devastation in the city," he said.

In India, officials said at least 175 people had been killed.

"The death toll could be in the thousands. The devastation is massive," Pakistan's chief military spokesperson Major General Shaukat Sultan said.

"Village after village has been wiped out" in Pakistani Kashmir, an army relief official said from Muzaffarabad.

"The Neelum River has been blocked because whole villages have fallen into the water."

- AFP