BREAKING NEWS

Iran says rescue operations have ended in quake-hit areas

Iran said on Tuesday that rescue operations have ended in areas hit by a powerful weekend earthquake that killed at least 450 people and injured thousands of others, state television reported.

"The rescue operations in the (western) Kermanshah province have ended," Pir-Hossein Kolivand, head of Iran's Emergency Medical Services, said on state TV.

Sunday's 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck villages and towns in the mountainous area of Kermanshah province that borders Iraq while many people were at home asleep. At least 14 provinces in Iran were affected.