Quake toll may hit 50,000: more aid needed

SOME 50,000 people may have died in Friday's Iranian earthquake, officials said yesterday, as relief workers pleaded for more aid for survivors of one of the deadliest natural disasters of modern times.

"We are expecting the death toll to reach around 50,000," a senior Interior Ministry official said, sharply raising the projected tally from the nearly 30,000 already buried.

Some hungry children may have died in the freezing nights tormenting tens of thousands forced to sleep in the open at Bam, putting a premium on blankets, clothing and medicines.