Earthquake death toll rises to 40

CHENGDU: The death toll in Saturday's 6.1-magnitude earthquake in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces has risen to 40 and 675 people were injured, local authorities said yesterday.

Huili county in the Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, the worst-hit region in Sichuan, registered five more deaths as of 8 am yesterday, raising the death toll to 32 in the province.

The publicity department of the Chuxiong Yi autonomous prefecture in Yunnan province, said one more body was retrieved on Sunday evening, taking the death toll to six there.