SRINAGAR, Oct. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- The death toll from Saturday's devastating earthquake in the Indian-controlled Kashmir has mounted to 450 on Sunday, as authorities recovered 280 bodies fromTangdhar, near the Line of Control (LoC), a local government officials said Sunday.

    In Tangadhar, which suffered most due to the Saturday quake, some 3,000 houses had been razed to the ground after the quake.

    The bodies were recovered after civil authorities with the help of Indian troopers began rescue and relief operations in the remote areas on Sunday.

    Of the 280 bodies retrieved from the debris in 11 villages, 19 were of the Indian Army soldiers while three belonged to the border guard, Border Security Force (BSF).

    Authorities fear that the death toll may go further up once communication with four other villages is re-established, where unknown number of people are said to be trapped.

    As many as 41 security personnel were reported killed in the Saturday massive quake, which had triggered landslides that wiped out several bunkers along the LoC. Enditem