Death toll over 79,000 and still rising

Updated: 6:50 a.m. ET Oct. 19, 2005 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - New figures released by regional officials on Wednesday pushed the death toll in South Asia’s earthquake to more than 79,000, about half each in Pakistani-held Kashmir and the country’s North West Frontier Province. The figures are significantly higher than the official death toll of 42,000 put out each day by the central government, whose count has lagged behind the local count since the early days of the disaster. Asif Iqbal Daudzai, information minister for the North West Frontier Province, told The Associated Press that 37,958 people died in the province and at least 23,172 were injured, the vast majority of them in Mansehra district. He said the figures were based on reports from local government and hospital officials in the area. In addition, 40,000 people died in Pakistani-held Kashmir, which is not part of the North West Frontier Province. India has reported 1,360 deaths in the part of Kashmir that it controls.