Iran Earthquake Death Toll Passes 300, Search for Survivors Called Off

Iran has raised the death toll from Saturday's twin earthquakes to 306, a day after rescuers called off the search for survivors, CBS News reports. Health minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi told a session of parliament Monday that the number jumped by about 50 after victims died in the hospital. The death toll included some 219 women and children, Dastjerdi said, adding that around 2,000 injured people had been released from hospitals soon after the quake since they had only minor injuries. More than 3,000 people were injured in the 6.4- and 6.3-magnitude quakes in Iran's mountainous northeast, where some 300,000 people live near the borders with Azerbaijan and Armenia. At least six villages were totally leveled, and 133 other sustained damages ranging from 50 to 80 percent.