Monday, October 24, 2011

Crews scramble to find survivors as Turkish earthquake toll climbs

ERCIS, TURKEY—Turkey's interior minister says the death toll in a 7.2-magnitude earthquake has reached some 270.

Interior Minister Idris Naim Sahin tells Associated Press television on Monday that more than 1,000 others were injured in the temblor that struck eastern Turkey a day earlier.

On Monday, rescuers pulled out several people alive from collapsed buildings, including a man who managed to call for help on his cellphone.

Dozens of people were trapped in hills of debris, but authorities offered hope that the death toll may not rise as high as initially feared.