More than 300 killed, 3,000 injured in Iran earthquakes

The death toll from a pair of earthquakes that jolted Iran on Saturday has escalated once again, state-run media reported Monday.

At least 306 people have been killed and 3,037 injured in the two quakes in northwest Iran, Press TV reported, citing the country's health ministry.

The head of emergency services, Gholamreza Masoumi, told the semi-official Fars News Agency that 4,500 were injured. Some 1,200 were taken to hospitals and the remaining 3,300 were treated as outpatients and released, he said.

Rescue operations were reported to have ended Sunday.

"All those killed or injured in the incident have been taken out of the rubble," said Abolhassan Faqih, the head of Iran's Red Crescent Society, according to Fars.

Scores of villages were destroyed or damaged by the quakes, which struck East Azarbaijan province northeast of Tabriz, the country's fourth-largest city.