Kyrgyzstan

Dozens die in earthquake

Article published on the 2008-10-06 Latest update 2008-10-07 10:30 TU

Tian Shan mountain range
(Credit: Wikimedia)

An earthquake in a remote village of Kyrgyzstan has killed 75 people, officials confirmed on Tuesday, including 41 children. The 6.6 magnitude quake took place late on Sunday night, razing the remote village of Nura, high in the Tian Shan mountain range. More than 60 people need urgent hospitalisation and 128 houses, mainly made of clay and straw, are destroyed.

"Efforts to assist the victims are being complicated by the distance of the villages...from hospitals, by a lack of communications and by the destruction of the roads," said Health Ministry official Dinara Sagynbayeva.

Officials said that the efforts were hampered by impassable roads and the lack of telephone links in Nura, the tiny village of 960 located near the Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and China border.

In addition to the residents, some 1,000 visitors were in the village when the quake struck, including businessmen and tourists, who had just crossed the Chinese border, only ten kilometres away.

Rescue workers and doctors are currently on the scene, and the International Committee of the Red Cross has handed out provisions to those affected.

A Russian plane with workers and emergency supplies is expected to arrive on Tuesday.

Some victims are being taken via helicopter to the hospital.

The US Geological Survey reported that a 5.1-magnitude aftershock hit the region a little more than two hours later.

Two more earthquakes were recorded by USGS in Asia on Monday in the Himalayan region of Tibet, measuring 6.6 and 5.1 respectively.