HONG KONG, Oct. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- The death toll from Saturday's earthquake in the South Asian subcontinent rose to 24,000 Tuesday as local and international immediate relief is racing the time to reach the hard-stricken areas.

    "The latest loss of life, the number of people dead, is approximately 23,000, injured is about 51,000," Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told a press conference in Islamabad Tuesday.

    The quake also left 2.5 million people homeless, Aziz said, as it caused massive devastation to homes, businesses, official buildings and schools in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir and the North West Frontier Province.

    The town of Balacot in Azad Kashmir had been flattened and mostpart of Muzaffarbad, capital of Azad Kashmir, had been severely damaged.

    Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Tuesday the toll in Indian-controlled Kashmir reached to 1,300.

    "The number of injured has risen to 4,346 while 32,345 houses have suffered partial or total damage in Saturday's earthquake," said Javaid Mukhdoomi, Indian inspector general of the local police.

    Assisted by the international community, Pakistan and India aremobilizing every effort to offer help to the victims immediately after the quake.

    The Pakistani government has paid 500 million rupees (one US dollar is about 60 rupees) each to the local governments of Azad Kashmir and Northwest Frontier Province so that they can get financial support when needed, said Aziz.

    Two additional divisions would be deployed in the two most-affected areas to make sure there would be military groups every 10 kilometers to provide help. And they have built six field hospitals and six more are being built.

    More than 100 local hospitals have been reportedly destroyed bythe quake in the region.

    Medical treatment is in urgent need in many places as medical teams from international organizations and foreign countries are moving in while first international relief groups have already started operation in different areas.

    Aziz expressed thanks for the countries which had provided Pakistan with relief aid.

    He said that the international aid to Pakistan had amounted to 300 million US dollars till Monday. In the affected areas of Pakistan, there are 15 overseas rescue teams, 11 medical teams andeight field hospitals built by foreigners.

    The Pakistani government appealed to foreign countries to send more money, tents, blankets and other aid to help desperate survivors.

    The South Asian country has also appealed for more transport helicopters to get relief supplies to mountain villages that were flattened by landslides in the quake.

    At the moment, 34 Pakistani military helicopters were involved in the relief effort.

    In India, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Tuesday announced an additional 5 billion rupees (111 million US dollars) for relief and rehabilitation of the quake-affected people in India-controlled Kashmir.

    The Indian government had announced that 1.42 billion rupees will be released for quake relief effort.

    "After reviewing the tragedy, I notice that it has been enormous. The center and state shall work shoulder to shoulder in providing relief, rescue and rehabilitation to the affected peoplethough every one of us knows that those who died cannot be broughtback," Singh said.

    Singh pledged that special attention would be paid to the rehabilitation of orphans and widows of the disaster.

    Local police said that rescue workers, comprising paramilitary and medical teams, have reached all the worst affected villages along the Line of Control in the Tangdhar, Uri, Machil and Karnah sectors except seven villages in the Tetwal sector of Kupwara district where the quake is reported to have damaged all concrete and semi-concrete structures. Enditem