Earthquake kills at least 72 in Kyrgyzstan

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
A powerful earthquake struck the mountains of Central Asia, destroying a village in Kyrgyzstan and killing at least 72 people, emergency officials said Monday. The 6.6-magnitude quake near the border between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan hit the remote village of Nura hard, bringing down dozens of buildings and injuring more than 100 people in addition to the confirmed deaths, Emergency Situations Minister Kamchybek Tashiyev said. "What we've seen is terrible, the village of Nura is completely destroyed - 100 percent," Tashiyev said. "There are many injured and we've counted 60 dead so far, all of them local residents." Later Monday, Health Ministry spokeswoman Yelena Bayalinova said the death toll was 72.