Iran earthquake toll reaches 4,000

8220;According to the very latest information from the quake-hit zone the quake killed more than 4,000 people,8221; the conservative newspaper Ressalat reported today in a front-page story citing local sources.

The Iranian authorities had said previously that around 2,400 people died in the 7.1-degree tremor in Khorasan province and 6,000 were injured.

Iranian Revolutionary Guards and army troops joined the search for survivors of the quake which left 200 villages and 15,500 homes in ruins in the fertile region near the border with Afghanistan.

Offers of international assistance continued to pour in today following proposals from countries with which Iran has prickly relations such as the United States, Germany and Egypt.

President Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani toured quake-hit villages today after flying home from the Turkmenistan capital Ashkhabad.

The country continued to experience over 150 aftershocks in the wake of the devastating earthquake even as relief supplies from the world over began pouring in.

The Khorasan province in the northeast of Iran recorded 155 aftershocks of up to 5.5 on the Richter scale which could be deemed medium range but there was no further casualties.

The tremors continued till evening, the CNN said, amid fast-paced relief work to reach medical assistance to the injured and food and water to the survivors who are virtually on the roads.

The UAE is sending two plane loads of foodstuff, medical equipment and tents to Iran at the initiative of President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nayhan, while the Organisation of Islamic Countries OIC has appealed to its 52 members to help Iran.

France flew in 39 tonnes of relief material including blankets, clothes and food by state chartered plane to Mashad, the capital of Khorasan. Kuwait and Bahrain announced they will send emergency supplies to the quake hit areas. Germany, the top trade partner for Iran, said it was prepared to send assistance and that the German relief agencies had kept funds for the purpose though they have not yet received any specific request for help from Iran.