Dalai Lama reaches out to earthquake victims in China

13 May 2008

NEW DELHI – Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on Tuesday mourned the deaths of thousands of people killed in an earthquake in south-western China.

"I am deeply saddened by the loss of many lives and many more who have been injured in the catastrophic earthquake that struck the Sichuan province of China," he said in a message issued from the northern India hill town of Dharamsala.

"I would like to extend my deep sympathy and heartfelt condolences to the affected families," he said. "I offer my prayers for those who have lost their lives and those injured in the quake."

The Dalai Lama and his government in exile are based in Dharamsala, which the Tibetan leader and thousands of his followers made home after China cracked down on a failed 1959 Tibetan uprising.

A quake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck Sichuan’s Wenchuan county on Monday, claiming about 12,000 lives.

It was the deadliest earthquake in China since 1976 when an estimated 243,000 people died in the northern city of Tangshan near Beijing.

[dpa / Expatica]