ISLAMABAD (AFP) – The death toll in Pakistan from last month”s massive earthquake has risen to more than 57,000, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told parliament.
The October 8 quake that devastated Pakistani Kashmir and North West Frontier Province was a major disaster that also left thousands injured, Aziz told the National Assembly on Tuesday.
"The calamity made a large number of children orphans and many women widows," he said during a debate in the lower house on relief and rescue efforts in the affected areas.
On Wednesday Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao put the toll at 54,000 dead and 77,000 injured. He said the death toll was likely to rise.
More than two-thirds of the casualties have been reported from Pakistani Kashmir while about 18,000 died in North West Frontier Province.
The quake also killed more than 1,300 in India.