President Offers Sympathy For Iran's Disaster Victims

Jakarta, April 17 (Antara) - President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in his twitter account has offered his sympathy on behalf of Indonesia for the victims of a powerful earthquake in Iran and Pakistan. "Indonesians and I pray for the people of Iran and Pakistan. Our thoughts are with the families of the earthquake victims," President Yudhoyono said. An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale hit Iran near the border with Pakistan on Tuesday with many people were feared to have been killed. But Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman M Tene said there were no Indonesian victims in the disaster. Huffington Post in its website:www.huffingtonpost.com reported from Tehran on Wednesday that the earthquake toppled homes and shops on both sides of the Iran-Pakistan border. It quoted a military official as saying that at least 34 people were killed in a single village in Pakistan, but the overall death toll became clouded after conflicting reports from Iran. At first, Iran`s state-in Press TV said at least 40 people died � which would push the two-nation tally to 74. But it later retreated from its account, and other Iranian outlets stepped in with a far less dire picture. Despite the conflicting reports on the Iranian side, a Pakistani military official said at least 34 were killed on their side of the border and 80 were injured. A Pakistani policeman, Azmatullah Regi, said nearly three dozen homes and shops collapsed in one village in the Mashkel area, which was the hardest hit by the quake. "Rescue workers pulled the bodies of a couple and their three children, ages 5 to 15, from the rubble of one house," he said. The Pakistani army ordered paramilitary troops to assist with rescue operations and provide medical treatment. Additional troops are being moved to the area, and army helicopters were mobilized to carry medical staff, tents, medicine and other relief items.