500 dead in Peru quake, as aid airlift goes into action

Officials battled Thursday to help victims of a huge quake which rocked Peru's southern tourist coast killing some 500, injuring hundreds more, and leaving many feared trapped in the rubble.
"The toll has jumped to between 500 and 510 dead and 1,600 injured," the head of the country's fire-fighter service, Roberto Ocno told AFP by telephone from the affected zone which was hit late Wednesday by a massive tremor. "There are dead trapped under houses," he said. "There are several bodies in the streets, people who may have died from heart attacks."
The US Geological Survey on Thursday upgraded the quake to a rare 8.0 on the moment magnitude scale, as the Peruvian government said it was launching an airlift with helicopters and planes to bring emergency aid to the hard-hit coastal towns, cut off by the quake.