Pakistan 7.7 earthquake creates new island off southwest coast Video

Rescuers struggled Wednesday to help thousands of people injured and left homeless after their houses collapsed in a major earthquake in southwestern Pakistan as the death toll from the massive tremor the day before rose to at least 271.

The earth moved with enough force to create a small island visible off the southern coast after the magnitude 7.7 quake struck in the remote district of Awaran in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province Tuesday.

At least 446 people were also injured in the quake, said the head of the National Disaster Management Authority, Maj. Gen. Muhammad Saeed Aleem, who also gave the latest death toll.

The quake flattened wide swathes of Awaran. Most of the victims were killed when their houses collapsed.

In the hard-hit village of Dalbadi, Noor Ahmad said he was working when the quake struck but swiftly rushed home, only to find his house leveled to the ground and his wife and son dead.

He said he pulled their bodies from the rubble and helped other family members who were injured.

“I’m broken. I have lost my family,” he said.

Dalbadi was completely flattened. No one knew exactly how many people the quake had killed.

Men, women and kids were sitting in makeshift shelters. Doctors were treating people, but due to a scarcity of medicine and staff, they were mostly seen comforting the residents.