Death toll mounts after African quakes

KIGALI, Rwanda, Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Rescuers raised the number of people killed in a series of weekend earthquakes in central Africa to 40 Monday, with nearly 700 people reported injured.

Two quakes measuring 6.0 and 5.0 on the Richter scale shook the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda on Sunday in the Great Lakes region three hours apart, the BBC reported.

In western Rwanda, 10 people were killed when a church collapsed during mass, CNN said.

Emergency officials said 34 people died in Rwanda and six others were killed in DR Congo. However, the number could rise as the rescue operation expands, the report said. Police said Monday they fear there are many people trapped in rubble that rescue crews hadn't yet reached.

Jean-Luc Martinage, a spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva told CNN disaster response crews had been dispatched in the region.