Over 100 people feared dead as 7.3-magnitude earthquake rocks Iran, Iraq

The northern border region between Iran and Iraq was rocked by a devastating 7.3-magnitude earthquake with rescue officials confirming that at least 135 people lost their lives during the incident while a hundred more were reportedly injured.

According to the break down of victims that lost their lives, 129 people died in western Iran’s Kermanshah province while six more were reported dead in Iraq even as the death toll is likely to rise.

Reports say the earthquake which sparked panic, with fears of aftershocks sent residents out into the streets.

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The head of Iran’s Red Crescent Organisation, Morteza Salim, revealed that the earthquake caused damage in at lease eight villages.

“Some other villages have suffered power cuts and their telecommunications system has also been disturbed,” he said.

On the Iraqi side, the most extensive damage was in the town of Darbandikhan, 75km (47 miles) east of the city of Sulaimaniyah in the Kurdistan Region.

“The situation there is very critical,” Kurdish Health Minister Rekawt Hama Rasheed told Reuters news agency.

 

 

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