Turkish aid group sends more supplies to quake-hit Iraq

By Yunus Okur and Murat Karadag

ERZURUM, Turkey

The Turkish Red Crescent on Tuesday sent more aid to earthquake-hit people in Iraq, said the agency’s head of northeast Anatolia region.

Safak Lostar told Anadolu Agency that nine trucks loads with heating stove, blankets and mattresses were sent to the victims of Sunday's earthquake that struck along the Iraq-Iran border region.

The trucks left from eastern province of Erzurum, he said, adding: "We are providing aid in accordance with our teams' evaluations. Nine trucks loaded with aid supplies, including 6,000 blankets, 900 heating stoves and 2,000 mattresses, have been sent to the quake-hit region."

The epicenter of the quake was located around 32 kilometers (20 miles) southwest of the city of Halabja, near the Iranian border, and 103 kilometers (64 miles) southeast of the city of Sulaymaniyah, at a depth of 33 kilometers, and hit at 9:18 p.m. local time (1818GMT), said the U.S. Geological Survey.

As a result of Sunday's 7.3-magnitude earthquake, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported on Tuesday that the death toll has risen to at least 432 with 7,817 injured.

Iranian officials also announced that 536 villages were destroyed, 12,000 houses collapsed and at least 70,000 people left without homes.