Pakistanis race to rescue quake victims, death toll at 271

Rescue workers on Wednesday dug through the debris in at least five districts of southwestern Baluchistan province which was rocked by powerful earthquake registering 7.8 on the Richter scale on Tuesday. "Death toll has shot up to 271 as rescue workers are still engaged in rescuing the injured and dead," Baluchistan provincial government spokesman Jan Mohamed Buledi told reporters. The powerful earthquake jolted the southern and southwestern parts of Pakistan, especially the towns of Awaran, Pasni and Dalbadin in Baluchistan. The quake disputed communications in the towns, making it difficult for rescue workers and government officials to evaluate the extent of the destruction. Tremors were also felt in Karachi, Hyderabad, Quetta, Khuzdar and several parts of Sindh province. The epicenter of the earthquake was Dalbadin on the border with Iran, located some 120km southwest of Baluchistan's Khuzdar district. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), a state-owned organization set up to coordinate among different rescue agencies in case of a natural calamity, expected more than 300,000 people to be affected in Awaran district, the worst affected district by the earthquake.