Iran-Iraq earthquake death toll rises above 600

By Goletekin Akhondzadeh and Mustafa Melih Ahishali

ISTANBUL

The death toll in last month’s earthquake on the Iraq-Iran border has risen to more than 600, an Iranian official said Monday.

The 7.3-magnitude earthquake on Nov. 12 killed 620 people in Iran’s Kermanshah province, Artin Kemali, the head of the province’s forensic medicine institute, told Iran’s Mehr News Agency.

The town of Sarpol-e Zahab reported 559 deaths, he added.

The quake claimed eight lives in Iraq.

The earthquake was felt in southeastern and eastern Turkey and as far away as Kuwait, Syria, Lebanon and Pakistan.