News In Brief

Aid rushed to Turkish area racked by Sunday quake

More than 800 people were killed in Sunday's earthquake in northeastern Turkey, and officials said the toll could rise to at least 1,000. Swiss mountain rescue dogs have joined the search for victims still trapped in their wrecked homes in this mountainous region more than 24 hours after the tremor hit.

Rescue teams worked through the night in the villages devasted by the quake and were still trying to reach more than a dozen settlements not contacted since the tremor struck. Many of the damaged villages reached by-rescue teams were almost completely destroyed.

The specially trained rescue dogs and their handlers are part of an International Red Cross catastrophe team. The Red Cross in Geneva issued an appeal for relief assistance for the estimated 23,000 people left homeless.

Rescue officials said that 20 truckloads of prefabricated buildings to house thousands of homeless were sent to the eastern province of Erzurum but that gale-force winds, heavy rain, and sleet were hampering their arrival and other rescue work.

The quake, Turkey's worst in seven years, caused casualties and flattened buildings between Erzurum and Kars to the northeast.