SRINAGAR, Oct. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- The death toll in the devastatingearthquake that hit India-controlled Kashmir has topped about 850 while rescue work is gearing, local officials said Monday.

    The dead included 49 security personnel who died along the Lineof Control (LoC) dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

    The maximum number of deaths, 469, were reported from Baramulladistrict, followed 301 in Kupwara district.

    Sixty-one people, 58 of them army laborers, are still missing while 15 villages remain inaccessible, officials said.

    The earthquake, measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale, had caused widespread damage across India-controlled and Pakistan-controlled Kashmir.

    Rescue work has moved on. According to army sources, about 300 injured have been sent to hospital in Srinagar by army helicopters.

    Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS) in New Delhi also told Xinhua that their staff and volunteers in India-controlled Kashmir have been in the worst-hit areas like Uri and Baramulla Sunday distributing 5,000 blankets, 2,000 clothes and 300 kitchen sets.

    "We have 180 trained and equipped volunteers there including medical workers and all of them were sent to the fields," said Neel Kamal Singh, director of information of the IRCS.

    According to their preliminary assessment, the quake-hit areas will need 15,000 tents, 40,000 woolen blankets and three large tents for storage.

    "We are talking with the government before making the exact relief plan," Singh said. "We will try to find most of the relief supply in local areas but the most needed tents need shipping fromoutside."

    The Indian government Saturday sanctioned 1 billion rupees (23 million US dollars) for relief operations in addition to the 400 million rupees (9.69 million US dollars) from the National Fund for Calamity Relief.

    Congress president Sonia Gandhi toured Uri town and other affected areas along with Defense Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Chief MinisterMufti Muhammad Sayeed Saturday.

    According to local media, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit quake-hit areas in India-controlled Kashmir Tuesday.

    However, since most of the present efforts were made to save the injured and discover the victims, many local residents are facing great difficulties in daily life. Most of them can not findshelters and live in open space without electricity supply, water and food. Enditem