228 killed, 1,620 injured in Pakistan earthquake

ISLAMABAD, Oct. 27 -- At least 228 people were killed and 1,620 others injured in Monday's huge quake in Pakistan, said an official with Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Tuesday.

This is the latest official figure released by Pakistan regarding the casualties caused by the earthquake that rocked Pakistan, Afghanistan and other neighbouring countries on Monday afternoon.

Besides, a total of 2,520 houses were also damaged in the quake in addition to an unknown extent of infrastructure damage in the quake-affected areas, said Reema Zubari, the spokeswoman of the NDMA in a telephone interview with Xinhua.

These figures are preliminary as many of the hard-hit areas are located in the remote mountainous areas along the Pak-Afghan border, said Reema, adding that the NDMA has requested the Pakistani Air Force to conduct aerial photography survey over the quake-affected areas.

The country's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is the worst-hit area in the quake as it is located most close to the quake epicenter which is determined in the Hindu Kush Mountain Range that lies between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone, a total of 184 people were killed, 1,456 others injured and 2,102 house were damaged,said Reema.

The other parts of Pakistan, which were affected by the quake, include the northwest tribal regions (30 killed, 59 injured, 300 houses damaged), northern Gilgit-Baltistan (8 killed, 29 injured, 90 houses damaged), eastern Punjab province (5 killed, 67 injured, 28 houses damaged).

No reports of casualties and damages have been received from the country's southwest Balochistan province and southern Sindh province, she said.