Yahoo! News - Big Iran Quake Kills 'Thousands' in Ancient City
Iranian television said about 70 per cent of the buildings in Bam, a popular tourist destination some 1,000 km (600 miles) southeast of the capital, Tehran, had collapsed in the earthquake which measured 6.3 on the Richter scale.

"Thousands of people have been killed," television said. A local official said earlier that 2,000 people were confirmed dead.

"So far we can only confirm 2,000 dead but the number is sure to rise," a senior official from Kerman province, where Bam is situated, told Reuters in Tehran by telephone.