Number of injured in earthquake in Iran reaches 973

At least 973 people were injured in an earthquake in Iran’s northwest on Saturday, the spokesman of the emergency service of West Azerbaijan province Mojtaba Khalidi said on Sunday.

"As many as 973 injured in an earthquake in the city of Khoy have been taken to hospitals and medical centers of West Azerbaijan province, with 858 carried to Khoy’s city hospital," he was quoted as saying by the Tasnim news agency.

Earlier, the governor of the province Mohammad Sadegh Motamedian said that the number of injured had increased to 816 people, while three people died.

A 5.9 magnitude earthquake hit on Saturday in the northwestern part of Iran with an epicenter 23 kilometers to southeast of the city of Khoy, home to 175,000 people.